Be My Salvation
by DevilsDelusionalMistress
Summary: Marcus found someone else when he woke up in the mud and the rain. Find out what happends on their journey to figuring out just what the hell is going on. Second story so please let me know what you think!
1. Chapter 1

Just watched Terminator: Salvation, again and the plot bunnies wouldn't stop hopping around my head! It will be mostly following the movie but might branch out and become a more AU. Anyway, hope you like it!

**~!DDM!~**

Disclaimer! I own nothing

* * *

><p>"Hurry up Dessa, I'm starving!" Grace complained by the door. I threw my crocs into my locker and grabbed my jacket. My first day is only half over and I'm already exhausted! Working in the ER is hectic, fast paced and sometimes chaotic. I'm so glad its time for lunch.<p>

I followed Grace as she nearly bounced down the hall way and out the front doors. She always has boundless amounts of energy.

"I knew working in the ER was going to be difficult but I never realized how hard some of the cases would hit me, you know?" she said as we walked down the street. Our favorite café was only a two minute walk from the hospital.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I had to stitch us a stab victim, he was only 7 years old! It took twenty minutes to suture his lacerations. I wanted to cry the whole time." I sighed flopping down in a metal chair under the bright yellow umbrella on the patio eating area.

"I saw him! His mother was yelling at him for picking some kind of fight at school! Oh and the big accident on that highway! I forgot how much carnage a car accident could cause! Half the people that were brought in didn't even make it to the operating room." She shuddered. We both ordered grilled chicken salads.

"I set quite a few broken bones for the ones who lived. A woman had to be sedated because she lost her husband and had become hysterical. I felt so bad. What do you say to someone like that? How do you tell them that there was nothing you could do to save the one they loved?" I'll never forget the look the woman gave me when I told her how sorry I was for her loss but there wasn't anything we could do for her husband.

"There really isn't anything you could say." Grace pocked moodily at her salad. "All you can do is let them know that you tried to the best o your ability. There isn't anything anyone could say to lessen the pain of losing someone you care about."

"I guess you're right. I just wish there was something I could do, you know? Something that could bring them some comfort, any comfort." We lapsed into rare silence. Grace and I are almost never quiet, especially not when we are together. The waitress had come by and refilled our sodas by the time she spoke again.

"Do you think Josh would go for me?" I couldn't help but laugh. Leave it to Grace to take a semi-serious conversation and shoot it in a whole other direction.

"Josh from pediatrics?"

"Yeah, tall, dark, mysterious and handsome, on top of that he likes kids! He's perfect." She sighed dreamily.

"The idea of him is perfect. You haven't ever spoken to him." I teased her. Over her shoulder I noticed a man headed our direction. He looked…unclean to say the least. He's probably just a homeless guy looking for restaurant leftovers. Some places do that; donate food to those in need.

"Are you even listening to me?" Grace whined. I smiled at her. My best friend, the sister I never had but always wanted.

"Yes Gracey, I am. Hunky, dreamy, kid friendly, I got it. Go on." She rolled her eyes at me but continued gushing about her latest crush. I realized the man was slowing down. He stopped beside our table, twitching slightly and looking very nervous.

"Can I help you?" I asked politely. No need to be rude, he may be lost, or mentally ill. You never know with homeless people. He took his hand out of his pocket and the light of the sun glinted off a reflective surface.

"You can die." He said desperately, his hand shaking. It was a gun. I was startled by a loud bang, and then I registered the pain blossoming from my left side, right next to my collar bone. Part of my mind was focused on the pain, and the growing darkness I was experiencing, as well as the screams I could barley here around me. The analytical part of my brain supplied only one word: Fatal.

My vision blurred and my head swam. I tried to breathe slowly and not panic but I knew it was useless. My medical training told me that. I saw an image of the woman whose husband had died earlier that day. She was wearing my scrubs and standing alone in a sea of darkness.

"I'm sorry," She said, hands clasped before her. "There was nothing we could do…"

Nothing…

Nothing…

Nothing…


	2. Chapter 2

I've recently registered for my fall classes! Very excited! Now I just need to need to look for a summer job! I've been studying like crazy for my final next week! I hope you like this chapter, I wrote it during study breaks! Let me know what you think!

I'm hoping that since I wont have to be spending all of my time studying and writing essays that relaxing during the summer will help get my creativity flowing again! I have felt so creatively stunted lately :(

Anyway! Like I mentioned already, let me know what you think!

Disclaimers apply!

**~!DDM!~**

* * *

><p>'Ew.' It was the first thought that came to my mind when I gained consciousness. I was laying in something disturbingly squishy. Had I been asleep? No, I don't think so. I would remember going down for a nap. Then why…Memories came flooding back.<p>

Images of my best friend Grace and I graduating from Georgetown Medical, getting our first job together in the local emergency room. Signing up as donors for Cyberdyne Research. Lunch outside our favorite café. The strange man walking up to our table.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, you can die."

Bang.

Pain.

Darkness.

I screamed, sitting up. I was in the mud, naked, being pelted my rain. Panic quickly began setting in. I looked around in efforts of finding something familiar only to screamed again, louder this time. Bodies lay scattered all around me, patches of fire, helicopters and other metal machines were in pieces everywhere!

A hand on my shoulder brought another shriek from my lips. I spun around, muddy, wet hair sticking to my face and neck. A man knelt beside me. Half dressed and likewise covered in mud. A body several feet away was missing his pants.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, I'm not going to hurt you." He reached over to the nearest body and stripped its jacket before draping it over my shoulders. I cringed but he only shrugged. "It's better than nothing. Stay right here, I'll be right back."

I nodded numbly not having a single clue as to what else I should do. He went back over to the half dressed man and finished commandeering his clothing. When he had finished lacing up his newly acquired boots he came back over to me. Gently, he pulled me to my feet, I'm glad to say my knees didn't just give out like I thought they would.

He introduced himself as Marcus Wright before zipping up the jacket I was wearing. It went almost all the way down to my knees.

"I am Odessa Croy." I gave him my name in return. "Where are we?"

"Don't have a clue." He scowled. "Come on; let's see if we can't find you something closer to your size." He led me through the field of bodies until we came upon a young man, short and thin. Marcus removed the corpse's clothes when I was unable to bring myself to do it. I've seen dead bodies before at the hospital but this just felt so different. He turned away as I dressed, trying not to think about the clothes previous owner.

The wife beater was a decent fit, sadly, even with the help of the belt I couldn't make the pants stay up. After a moment of thought, I came up with an alternative solution. I didn't like it, but it was better than nothing at all.

"Could I have his shorts please?" I requested softly. Marcus raised an eyebrow at me, shrugged and did as I asked before turning away again. I discarded the pants and slipped on the shorts, suppressing a shudder. I pulled the jacket back on and used the belt to synch in the waist for a makeshift dress. We had to take several pairs of socks for the boots to fit decently.

After I was all dressed we began walking in a seemingly random direction. I asked Marcus if he knew where he was going. The sky had partially cleared, the clouds were fewer but it was still drizzling. He pointed to a particularly bright star.

"North."

We walked in silence for a while before I broke it again.

"I'm not supposed to be here." I said sadly. "I'm supposed to be dead."

"That makes two of us." he sighed, running his hand over his short dark hair.

"You died too?" he nodded. "Are you sure?" It felt like a stupid question. "Maybe we just think we died and instead we were unconscious for a while. What happened to you?"

"Lethal injection, pretty sure that's permanent. You?" Well so much for that theory.

"A man shot me while I was having lunch with my best friend. Oh no! Grace! What if he hurt her too?" I felt like crying. A heavy arm settled across my shoulders. "What if she is back there?" I looked back the way we had come.

"You were the only other living person I found."

"How do you think we ended up here, where ever here is?"

"No idea. They were supposed to chop me up until there was nothing left."

"They, who are They?"


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you to all of you who have read my story! Hope you all like this chapter! I'm thinking of looking for a beta, so if anyone is interested let me know! Please and thank you!

Anyway! Usual disclaimers apply!

PS. Just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to shay silverdawn for the story alert! Much love!

* * *

><p>"Cyber something." I stopped walking and frowned.<p>

"Cyberdyne?"

"Yeah, that's it. How'd you know?" I barley noticed when he stopped too.

"I signed up to be a body donor for their research. My body was to go to them after I died. I just didn't expect it to be a week later."

We began walking again. The rain had stopped and the sun was rising. I pulled my hair over one shoulder to braid it and was pleased to note that most of the mud was gone. Questions kept chasing one another in circles in my head, my mind in overdrive. Why are we here? Where is here? Why aren't I dead? Was I just unconscious? If so, for how long? Was it really unconsciousness at all? What happened to those people back there? Every one of my questions just seemed to lead me to new ones rather than supplying any answers.

The feel of the ground suddenly changed beneath my feet. I realized Marcus had stopped too and looked down. He knelt and brushed sand aside revealing what looked like tarmac, we were standing on a road. A road to where? I have no clue. How could a road be covered almost completely in sand? Didn't enough people drive on it to keep it clear?

"Where do you think it goes?" I asked hesitantly, unable to keep that question to myself.

"I don't know. What I do know, is that roads lead to towns or cities. There we can figure out where we are." I agreed and we changed course, following the moderately covered road.

Marcus was quiet, so I stayed that way too. It was difficult, very difficult. I like to talk in fact I love it. Any long periods of silence bothers me, to the bone.

It was some time before we took a break, sitting atop a large boulder on the side of the road, the sun was high in the sky. Our perch was elevated enough that we could see the mountains in the distance, in almost every direction. I didn't really care much for the scenery. I was still worried about what might have happened to Grace after I was shot. Maybe someone tackled the man, or knocked the gun from his hand. Grace could have ducked beneath the table.

"There is something over that way." I jumped in surprise. Marcus was pointing off in the direction we had been headed.

"It looks like mountains to me." he rolled his eyes at me.

"Look harder." I did. There was something gray sticking up in an unnatural fashion. Possibly man-made?

"The gray thing?" he seemed pleased I had finally seen what he was seeing.

"We'll keep going that direction." He slid off the boulder and offered his hand to help me slide down as well. The silence that followed was really starting to bug me. It wasn't uncomfortable by any means, just…quiet. I couldn't take it anymore.

"Marcus?" he grunted at me. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Shoot."

"Why were you on Death Row?"

"What?" His steps faltered but he didn't stop.

"You said you died by lethal injection. What did you do to get it?" He didn't say anything for a few minutes and I was afraid that I had crossed some invisible line I hadn't been aware I was standing on. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. Forget I said anything!"

"Does it bother you?" he asked after more time when by. I made an unintelligent noise of confusion. "Does it bother you?" he asked again.

"Does what bother me?"

"Does it bother you that I was on Death Row?" I gave it some serious though. Did it bother me? He hadn't done anything to hurt me. In fact, he hadn't been anything but helpful since I woke up in the mud. Quiet, but gentlemanly all the same.

"No, it doesn't. I was only curious." I paused and felt the need to explain myself further. "It's just that all the quiet was killing me! Just so you know for the future, long silences hardly ever last around me. I can't help it, I'm a talker." I smiled up at him. He smirked and rolled his eyes.

"I'm a pretty decent listener." He stared down at his feet as they kicked up dust before looking straight ahead. "I did something really stupid. So thanks to me, a couple of cops, and my brother lost their lives."

"Oh, I'm sorry about your brother." He nodded.

"What about you? What did you do before you died?"

"I studied to be a trauma surgeon at Georgetown Medical, graduated top 10% of my class. I had just gotten my first real job as a doctor at the ER with Grace. I was having a pretty eventful first day to bad I died halfway through it. I would have really liked to see what happened after lunch. I bet it would have been even more hectic!"

"How so?" he was humoring my need to talk, something I was very grateful for.

"I had already stitched up a stab victim and fished a bullet out of the arm of another. There had been a huge pileup on the interstate so I had to give some stitches and reset a couple of shoulders, set quite a few broken bones and pull bits of metal and glass from whoever was set in front of me. I loved it! Not the people getting hurt part, obviously."

"Oh no, of course not." He nodded and laughed.

"No really! It was the helping people part that I liked. I love to help others. That is the whole reason I became a trauma surgeon instead than a lawyer like Dad, or a judger like my Mom." I felt the need to cry again. It must have shown on my face because Marcus chose to distract me with another question rather than lapse into silence again.

"Any siblings?"

"Nope, it was just me. I don't think my parents could have handled having another child."

"You were that much of a handful?" he asked playfully.

"Oh no, my parents were just really busy. All the time. They had very full schedules, almost every minute of every day was planned out for them. I was with Ellie most of my childhood."

"Ellie?"

"She was my nanny until I was fifteen. After that, my parents decided I didn't need her anymore."

"Who was with you after that?"

"No one, it was just me and Grace sometimes when she was allowed over."

"My brother and I did almost everything together. Most if it was less than legal, but we looked out for each other."

The gray structures were getting closer. They looked vaguely familiar.

"I would have liked a sibling. Grace and I met in fifth grade. She was the closest thing I ever had to a sister. We did everything together, shopping, movies, dinners, sleepovers, class projects. We were inseparable."

"Well, let's find out where we are, and then we can see I we can find out about your family." I beamed at him. I suddenly realized how much taller than me he was. I only came up to his shoulder. I looked down at the jacket I was wearing. It was a dirty blue color and had obviously seen better days. One arm had what looked like medical grade tape around the bicep. It was stained red, like blood. I leaned over to inspect Marcus' jacket, though it was a different color, it too sported something similar on the arm. I wonder of it has some kind o significance.

"Is that what I think it is?" Marcus broke me out of my thoughts. I looked ahead and saw that the gray structures had officially taken shape.

"That's the back of the 'Hollywood' sign! We're in California!" I felt a little better knowing where we were. All of that comfort went away however when we were standing in front of the sign looking out over the city of Los Angeles.

"Oh my god…"


	4. Chapter 4

YAY here is the next chapter! I hope that you guys like this chapter and I want to say a HUGE, HUGE, thank you to **Dark Alana **for all the help! I think that I know the direction I want this story to go in and I'm very excited! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I hope that the next chapter will be out sometime next week! So, let me know what you guys think, please and thank you!

~!DDM!~

All regular disclaimers apply!

* * *

><p>I felt like someone had stolen my ability to breathe. The once beautiful city of Los Angeles was in complete and utter ruin, it looked like it had been abandoned a long time ago. Windowless buildings were literally falling apart, most looked ready to give way any second. Derelict cars lined the streets in various states of disrepair, some were missing tires or windows, and others were without doors or engines. Plants and weeds grew wild from numerous cracks in the pavement. What could have happened to this city? Where were all the people?<p>

"What the hell happened here?" Marcus said quietly. We began to slowly walk down the hill toward the dilapidated city. Rubble fell from the closest building when we reached city limits. "Stay close."

We walked down several streets in total silence. It was like a ghost town. So much for getting some answers once we found a city. All I have now are more questions.

"Marcus, what year do you think it is?" I asked as the thought occurred to me.

"What?" he came to a halt.

"When I died, every store was selling gossip magazines, full of rubbish on movie stars and celebrities. We are in LA, it's notorious for being home to tons of people like that. From the looks of things, no one has been here in years."

"You're right. There isn't anyone here. We should keep going."

We had reached what I assumed was close to the middle of the city when I saw it. Another person! I pointed them out to Marcus and he instantly tried to get their attention. It worked. When the sound of gunfire reached my ears I wished it hadn't, and I had kept my mouth shut for once. Dirt flew in a straight line as large bullets made their way toward us. I was frozen in confused shock, Marcus seemed to be too. Why would someone shoot at us? We were both jarred out of our astonishment when we were tackled out of the line of fire. Before either of us could speak we were given the signal to stay quiet as we all waited behind some kind of metal barrier. The man who saved us hit a lever, activating some kind of trap that snared what appeared to be a metal man by the ankle. He then turned to us, removing the bandana and goggles from his face.

"Come with me if you want to live." He said quietly before taking off. Marcus and I shared a glance before taking off after our rescuer. We were shot at from behind, ruble flying every which way as we bolted into the nearest building. We ran up several flights of stairs and were at on the top level when the young man made a series of hand signals. An adorable little girl put down her shot gun to set off another trap, crushing the metal, weapon wielding man with heavy machinery several stories below.

Marcus turned to the little girl and demanded to know what was going on. The young man informed us that she didn't talk before pointing his shot gun at us and telling us we should start. Marcus moved me behind him with one arm. The young man was angry about what we were wearing. His anger was spurred on when he asked where we had gotten our jackets and Marcus told him that the other guys didn't need them anymore as he slowly advanced. I stayed close to him. The boy pointed out the red stained tape that I had noticed earlier on the arms of our jackets.

"It's the symbol of The Resistance. You're obviously not Resistance Fighters, so take it off." He said angrily. If he thought I was going to strip out of the only piece of clothing covering me, he had another thing coming. I held onto the back of Marcus' coat as he moved toward the boy some more.

"Take it of!" he was shouting now, pointing the shot gun at Marcus' head. I jumped when he snatched the gun out of the boy's hands, reversing the situation.

"You point that gun at someone, you better be ready to pull the trigger." He told the stunned, nervous boy. Marcus held the position for a moment before he gave the boy back his gun.

"What was that thing?" I repeated Marcus' earlier, unanswered question, peaking around his shoulder.

"Terminator, T600." That didn't really clear up any of the confusion.

"What day is it? What year?" Marcus asked looking around the desolate landscape.

"Twenty eighteen."

"What happened here?"

"Judgment Day happened."

"You're kidding. Please tell me you are kidding. Judgment Day, you mean like an apocalypse?" I asked incredulously.

"Have you been living under a rock?" he asked like I was slow.

"Something like that." Marcus muttered. Suddenly the boy's words registered in my mind.

"Wait, what year did you say it is?" I needed conformation.

"Its 2018." He said firmly.

"Two thousand…eighteen…" my knees gave out but Marcus caught me before I ended up on the floor. I held tightly to his sleeve burying my head in the crook of his arm. I couldn't believe so much time had passed.

"What is the last year you remember?" my companion asked softy.

"It…it was 04'." I whispered, looking up at him and trying to regain my composer.

"I went in 03'." He murmured. Both kids were watching us curiously.

"Fourteen, fifteen years have gone by. How could we have missed that much time? How is that possible?" he shook his head, just as at a loss as I was.

"We have to get out of here, head north." Marcus said loud enough for the others to hear now, as he steadied me on my feet again.

"You can't go on foot. The machines will cut you down. You need speed. Besides, Skynet controls everything north of Sacramento, you can't go that way." The boy said knowingly.

"We need a car." I interjected.

"There are some by Griffith Observatory. They don't run though." The boy shrugged.

"Take us." Marcus demanded. The boy didn't answer though, he was looking past us. I turned to see the little girl standing, seemingly frozen to the spot.

"Get down!" the boy yelled grabbing the girls hand and dropping to the ground. Marcus and I dove down behind a wall next to them. I had a hand on the little girl's arm, feeling better knowing that she was in one piece. Marcus similarly had one splayed across my middle. A huge machine rumbled passed out position. The vibration of its passing toppled a building across the street, bathing us all in dust. We were all coughing uncontrollably as we sat up.

"That was a Hunter Killer." The boy said turning to us. "Thanks to you, they know we are here." I instantly felt guilty. Marcus however didn't seem at all phased.

"What is your name kid?" he asked.

"Kyle Reese. That is Star." He nodded toward the little girl. "Come on." He stood up, taking her by the hand and walking off. I got up and quickly followed after them. Checking Star for injuries as we walked. I looked expectantly over my shoulder at Marcus who was dusting himself off. He rolled his eyes at me but jogged to catch up. It was dark by the time we reached what appeared to be a fort or base of some kind.

"Where are the cars?" Marcus asked when Kyle sat down. He advised against going out in the dark.

"They have infrared." He told us. "They hunt better at night. We'll all go tomorrow morning." Kyle picked up a plate with something that might have been meat sitting on it. Or at least had been meat, once upon a time. Marcus seemed to agree with me.

"What is that?" he asked, making a face.

"Two day old coyote." Kyle sniffed the plate and put it down. "Better than three day old coyote."


	5. Chapter 5

Inspiration finally struck today, this chapter is a little longer than the last! YAY! Sorry it took so long! I hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know!

As always, lots of love to my readers, and remember, I LOVE reviews!

~!DDM!~

* * *

><p>Marcus was looking around, he was obviously searching for something but I decided to watch rather than help, not wanting to get in the way. He grabbed a piece of black cord off a hanging wire and snatched up the shot gun. Kyle wasn't happy about his weapon being taken, again. He obviously didn't completely trust us. He stood up to get it back but froze when Marcus turned and aimed the firearm at him. I was about to ask Marcus what his problem was when he beat me to the punch and instructed Kyle to try and disarm him. Star and I were curious while Kyle just looked unsure. He reached out and took hold of the gun but it didn't go farther than a few inches. It was attached to Marcus' arm by a loop he had constructed out of the black cord. Oh, smart man. He demonstrated to Kyle how he was unable to disarm him completely before giving the gun back to the boy.<p>

"Thanks." Kyle said, still looking slightly uncertain. Marcus picked up an old radio but Kyle said it was broken. "My dad tried to fix it but he never managed it."

"Where is everyone?" I asked while Marcus tinkered. Kyle shrugged.

"We are all that's left." Well that didn't sound ominous at all...

"Why do you stay?"

"We are the Resistance, LA Branch." He was proud of that fact.

"What are you resisting?" Marcus asked, glancing up from his work.

"The machines, Skynet." He said it as though it were obvious. To others it might be, but not to us.

"But you are so young." I said, bothered by this fact.

"You aren't that much older than I am!" I frowned and started to do the math in my head. I had died at age twenty-two, in the year 2004, its now 2018. Oh, my god, I'm 36 years old! I cringed mentally at that thought. It was still so difficult to believe that so much time has passed. Star came to sit next to me and watch Marcus work. He handed her the mike to hold.

"Odessa?" I looked up from his hands to his face. "Put your finger right here for a second." I did as I was asked. "Thanks." I removed it. Static was heard from the speakers. He told Star to hold down the button on the mike and a voice floated from the speakers. We all gathered around to listen to the man's gravelly voice.

"Who is that?" I asked. Kyle shrugged. We waited, listening to the whole broadcast until the man signed off with his name.

"John Connor…" Kyle said reverently. "We have to find this guy."

After the man, John Connor's broadcast was finished; Kyle took Star over to an area with blankets and helped her settle down. He reminded us that we would go to the observatory in the morning and advised we get some sleep before he too lay down amidst the blankets. Marcus was leaning against a low wall and I slid down next to him. He appeared deep in thought so I stayed quiet, he shocked me by being the first to speak.

"What's wrong Des?" he asked without looking at me.

"Des?"

"Your name has too many syllables. Besides, it kind of like Odessa and Doc mixed together?"

"Doc…?"

"You said you were a doctor, right?"

"Well, yes…but…"

"So it's not that big of a stretch."' He shrugged.

"You've put a lot of thought into that." I teased. He shrugged again.

"So, what's wrong Des?" He asked again. I rolled my eyes.

"Nothing is really, wrong." He put a hand on my continuously bouncing knee to still it.

"You are fidgeting."

"I feel so old." I said after sighing dramatically. Now he turned to look at me clearly amused, at least one of us is having a laugh.

"What?" he asked, looking horribly confused.

"I'm technically 36 years old!" I whispered fiercely, not wanting to wake the others. "I missed 14 years of my life and now I'm old! I missed the prime years of my life! I don't even know what happened during that time!" he laughed quietly.

"If it makes you feel any better, I would be 43." I thought about it for a second.

"It does actually." I decided, nodding slowly. He laughed again.

"I don't think that the years we were dead should really be counted against us. We didn't exactly live them. Besides, do you look any different now than when it happened?"

I looked at my reflection in a pane of glass across from us. I still had the same pale skin, the same small nose, forest green eyes and long dark hair. The only thing that was different was that I noticed, even as dirty and filthy as I was, my skin was devoid of any blemishes. I rubbed a smudge of dirt of my cheek and revealed smooth skin where I knew before had been a light, zigzag scar that I received when I was eight.

"I'm missing a scar." I tapped where the imperfection used to be.

"Still basically the same then?" he rolled his eyes, bad habit.

"I guess so. I haven't done an extensive search." I shrugged.

"Then don't worry about it. Get some sleep. We head north tomorrow after we get the car."

"Kyle said that was a bad idea." I said nervously.

"We need to figure out what is going on here. We need to find someone besides a reckless kid and a mute little girl who can give us more information. Someone who can point us in the right direction to figuring out why we aren't dead." I nodded reluctantly. Kyle had seemed pretty adamant about not going north. He said it was controlled by Skynet, what ever that was, and seemed pretty scared of it. I leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes. We hadn't gotten any sleep since waking up in the mud the night before. Rest sounded like the best plan.

I was woken by the wall I was leaning on shifting and a large gentle hand shaking my arm. I opened my eyes and looked upward, coming nose to nose with Marcus. I had moved in my sleep and was using him as a pillow.

"Time to get up Des." He said softly. I sat up slowly, stretching leisurely. Kyle was waking Star across the area. The sky was barley lit, the sun still coming up.

"We need to get going soon if we want to get to the Observatory by midday." Kyle explained. "We stand the best chance sticking to the alleys and avoiding the main roads." I nodded and Marcus just shrugged.

We were all quiet as we trooped through the desolate city. Kyle said it was better to be as quiet as possible so as not to attract any unwanted attention and alerting the machines to our position. It took a few hours to reach what Kyle called the Griffith Observatory. There were several cars sitting at the bottom of a small hill. Marcus popped the hoods and inspected the engine of each one before finally dubbing a Jeep usable. He had to get one of the batteries from one of the other cars in order to get the one he wanted to work. I watched his work with little interest. I'm a doctor, not a mechanic; I wouldn't know a spark plug from a lug nut. He tinkered away for a few minutes until he cut himself on a piece of metal. When Star walked up and put a little band aid over his cut I had to stifle a giggle.

Nearly an hour later, I was sitting in the driver's seat staring up at the cloudless sky, Star in the passenger side when the engine roared to life, followed closely by the sound of music coming from the radio.

"Rooster." I said softly, I liked that song. The music seemed to upset Marcus and he reached passed Star to turn it off, clearly irritated. Kyle started telling us about what he thought was a good direction to go. He was insistent on heading east to meet up with The Resistance but Marcus wasn't having any of that. He forced Star out of the vehicle and began to make it very clear he intended to leave both kids behind while we headed north! I jumped out of my seat and met him at the front of the vehicle as he slammed the hood down.

"You can't be serious! We can't just leave them here. You saw what was crawling all over that city!" I was not happy! Kyle chimed in and agreed with me.

"What about the Resistance, LA Branch?" Marcus rolled his eyes. We were still arguing a few minutes later, neither willing to budge when the decision was made for us. Some kind of flying machine came zooming up over the hill.

"It's a scout for the Terminator!" Kyle shouted as he jumped into the driver's seat. Marcus picked Star up and tossed her carefully into the back seat and jumped into the passenger side. I jumped in beside Star and Kyle took off down the road, though not very steadily. "It must have heard the music!" he shouted while Marcus yelled back to keep the Jeep steady.

"I've never driven before." He admitted as we sped down the road. The flying thing came up on Kyle's side and he began kicking at it while Marcus kept the car under control. I held onto my seat for dear life when the car jerked around a corner.

"This thing is really starting to piss me off!" Marcus shouted as the machine pulled back and followed us from behind. Star and I started looking for things in the backseat that could be of some help. She came up with a tire iron and quickly handed it over to Marcus. He stood up and threw the iron directly at our pursuer. It hit dead center and the machine fell right out of the sky, now only good for scrap metal. Star and I were forced to hold on for dear life when Marcus wrenched up the emergency break causing the car to spin as Kyle tried to keep it from crashing. We jerked to a stop in the middle of an intersection, all of us out of breath.

"If the point is to stay alive," Marcus reached over and shoved Kyle out of the driver's seat and right out of the car. "I'm driving." He hopped over the center consul and into the forcefully vacated driver's seat while Kyle ran around the front of the car to get in on the opposite side. I hugged Marcus from behind.

"You were both fantastic!" I praised, ecstatic.


	6. Chapter 6

Hope you all like this new chapter! Things are a little hectic around here but as always, pushing forward! Let me know what you think of this chapter! I think I have finally decided what direction this is going to take but I am forever changing my mind. Anyhow, as always, let me know what you think, reviews feed the monster that is inspiration!

**~!DDM!~**

* * *

><p>He disengaged the emergency break and we started down the road again. We'd been on the road for nearly twenty minutes, the ride so much smoother now that Marcus was driving, Star had fallen asleep, and her head on my lap, I was completely zoned out, stroking her hair. I was pleased with myself for having lasted so long but once again, my arch enemy, silence, proved to be too much for me.<p>

"Where are we going exactly?" I asked.

"That way." Marcus pointed out the wind shield. Smartass. I hit him in the shoulder.

"You know what I mean." I snapped, trying not to wake Star. "Is north still the general plan?"

"No!" Kyle said loudly, Marcus ignored him.

"I don't know where we are right now." He admitted. "Running from that thing threw me off direction wise." I nodded in understanding. I hadn't a clue where we were either. The only thing I was almost positive of was that we were still somewhere in California, but I was never very good at geography.

"You can't go north!" Kyle said again.

"What is that?" I pointed ahead of us to some kind of structure off in the distance.

"Gas station." Marcus grunted.

"What's left of one anyway." Kyle grouched, not happy we were ignoring his protests. We were passing the building a few minutes later when suddenly Kyle shouted for us to stop, flailing his arms dramatically. Marcus hit the breaks and I caught Star before she slid off her seat. If she wasn't awake before, she definitely was now.

"What the hell is your problem?" Marcus demanded.

"Back up! We need to go to that station!" Kyle said earnestly.

"No, we don't."

"Yes, we do! They had the Resistance symbol on that sign! There are people there!"

Marcus and I turned to look back at the station's sign but didn't see any identifying marks, not that either of us knew what to look for.

"I don't see anything." I admitted.

"I saw it!" Kyle insisted. "The DNA sign, the sign of the Resistance, it was there!" I looked up to see Marcus looking at me through the rear view mirror. He raised an eyebrow skeptically and I shrugged.

"It couldn't hurt." I said finally.

"See, Odessa agrees with me!" Kyle said triumphantly, I rolled my eyes. Marcus turned the car around and we made our way back to the station. Parking next to the pumps, we all piled out of the Jeep and walked cautiously toward the partially destroyed building. Kyle and Star entered first and I followed, Marcus bringing up the rear. I noticed a bottle of milk, fresh droplets running down the inside of the glass.

"Someone is here." I said softly. I was right.

People came from all directions! Jumping through doorways, around counters, even dropping from the ceiling! Every single one of them armed with guns. I pulled Star against me as one man began shouting at us. Marcus came strolling passed a crumbled wall and I backed us toward him. I felt a little better after I put him between us and the armed, angry man. He was very agitated by our presence. When Kyle opened his mouth, I wanted to smack him!

"If you are going to point a gun at someone, you had better be ready to use it." he said. Marcus rolled his eyes and I scoffed. Could Kyle not see that the man was just itching for a reason to use his weapon! The kid is going to get himself shot! "We saw your Resistance sign." He didn't sound so sure of himself this time, he sounded down right nervous.

The man laughed cruelly and made is opinion of the Resistance very clear. Apparently the people who lived in the station were just a group of people trying to survive, not at all interested in fighting the machines as Kyle was. Can't say I blame them either. The only one there who believed in the Resistance work was, as the man so eloquently stated, the 'old woman'. She was apparently the one who had drawn the symbol. I don't think these people are what Kyle was looking for and they definitely didn't hold the key to any real answers that Marcus and I are looking for either. It looks like it is back to the Jeep and back on the road for us. Marcus obviously agreed with me.

"These people aren't going to help you." He said to Kyle. "Let's go."

"You aren't going anywhere," A white haired woman with a walking stick made her presence known. This must be the 'old woman' that the man had spoken so _fondly_ of. "Not until this one gets some food." She gestured to Star. Rapping her cane against the ground, a hatch swung open.

She ordered a basket to be sent up. The angry man's temper was visibly climbing. He began to shout about the food stores belonging to them and only having enough to feed themselves. The woman ignored him as she set the basket down for the kids. Star glanced up at me as if asking for permission so I smiled reassuringly and gave her a little nudge forward. That was all the encouragement she needed and she and Kyle dug into the basket's content ravenously. Must be better then two day old coyote. The furious man was beyond words now, swinging his gun between the children and the old woman. She ignored him still, walking over to Marcus and I, but he was making me very nervous. I gripped Marcus' sleeve tightly, something I was noticing that I was beginning to make a habit of.

"Are you two alright?" she asked. "Aren't you hungry?" she waved a hand at the basket and smiled warmly.

"I am not alright. Tell that man to lower his weapon." I said, trying to keep my voice quiet and nonthreatening as possible, I was trying to be inconspicuous and not attract too much unwanted attention. I didn't succeed. He trained his gun on my face, at least that was better than him pointing it at the kids.

"You, you are strangers here! You show up, eat our food, make demands of us!" I didn't remember asking them for anything, let alone make any kind of demand. "Who are you? What are you running from? You think we don't know you are running? You bring machines here!" He was getting louder and louder with every word, more hysterical. "I know you do! You bring them down on us!"

I wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that we didn't bring any machines with us but the Jeep but I stopped myself. What if he is right? Out of the corner of my eye I saw Star freeze midway through bringing a carrot to her mouth.

Oh no, he was right!

Rubble descended upon us as two huge metal arms smashed through what was let o the gas station roof. The elderly woman was grabbed around the waist by what looked like claws attached to the metal arms. She was yanked off her feet and disappeared into the dust.

"You brought them here! You brought them here!" the man was yelling as I ran to Star and Kyle, Marcus right behind me. "I kill you! I kill you!" he screamed over and over, incensed. Gun shots rang out amidst the chaos and I felt a sharp stinging sensation on my right arm. I ignored it as best I could and kept moving, adrenaline beginning to pump through me. We were leading the kids toward the Jeep, there were people yelling from everywhere, the sound of metal mechanisms grinding against one another above us. Before we could get to close to our vehicle, it blew up, the force of the blast was enough to send all four of us flying backward.

I landed in a heap, my ears were ringing and I was seriously disorientated. Possible concussion, I thought as a large and grabbed me by my uninjured arm and hauled me to my feet. I was being half dragged along by Marcus who also had an unconscious Star tucked under his other arm.

The ringing was starting to dissipate, screams taking their place. Vehicles were blowing up all around us by the huge machine with metal claws.

"We can't run!" Kyle shouted over the noise as he watched another car full of people get blown into scrap metal. I was having a hard time concentrating on my surroundings. I clumsily climbed up into the front seat of the large tow truck Marcus was shoving me toward. He deposited Star in my lap as I shook my head, trying to clear it of the slight fogginess I was still experiencing. I heard the sound of Kyle's shot gun after the truck's engine started. Marcus started cursing, and the heavy smell of gasoline overwhelmed my senses, helping to clear my head. I realized what they had been trying to do. I almost screamed with happiness when Star found an old flare under some rags on the seat next to us. I quickly handed it over to Marcus who beamed.

The explosion that sounded behind us was extremely satisfying. I looked back and felt my jaw drop.

"You have got to be kidding!" I shouted. The machine didn't even look singed. We must have pissed it off, it deployed two new machines that resembled motorcycles and they quickly gave chase to us!

I held tightly to Star as Marcus raced the truck down the road. I watched with horrified fascination as one of the motor bikes jumped right over the truck to land in front of is, Marcus swerving to avoid a collision. I had to reach out and snatch Kyle by the back of his jacket, jerkin him back into the vehicle before his head was taken off by an abandoned bus we passed too close to, he gave me a quick grateful look. I cheered loudly when Marcus' maneuvering managed to cause one of the bikes to crash into a parked car. That left only one of those things following behind us. Kyle climbed to the back and held onto the tow truck's pulley system.

"Drop the ball." Marcus shouted. Kyle did as he was told, and the sound of the heavy metal ball crashing to the ground reached us. It bounced around dangerously behind us for a moment before the hook on the bottom finally got caught on the remaining bike and drug it across the ground.


	7. Chapter 7

I hope that you all like this chapter! It feels like it has taken me forever to write it! I know its a little short but I hope that you enjoy it none the less!

As always let me know what you think!

The usual disclaimers apply

**~!DDM!~**

* * *

><p>It swung back and forth, behind us, crashing into cars on either side of the road. We were just crossing a large bridge when the flying machine from back at the gas station flew overhead and made a U turn in front of us to get a shot off at the road ahead. Marcus hit the breaks but the bike we were still dragging hit an abandoned car with enough force to propel itself into the air and managed to get itself wrapped around one of the machine's protruding engines. The thing caught fire and began to pull up and away from the road. Unluckily for us, the tangled bike was still tethered to the truck! I swore as the machine pulled up, and we were dragged across the bridge unable to get free. We spun helplessly from one side of the bridge to the other, taking out guard rails as we went. I was holding tightly to Marcus as he tried desperately to get the truck under control, Star clinging to my jacket, when the whole truck suddenly tipped, sending Kyle and Star sailing out of the door-less passenger side and into thin air.<p>

"No!" I screamed, letting go of Marcus and reaching for the fallen children. I almost fell with them but Marcus grabbed onto my arm just in time to pull me back in.

We watched in horror as they were both caught by claw like mechanical hands and dumped into a dark pit. Another machine was coming up on our other side, fast, huge guns at the ready. Before I could process what to do, Marcus snatched up the ax that lay on the floor with one hand, wrapped the other arm around my waist and jumped from the truck. I screamed as it blew up behind us. We hit metal, hard, knocking the wind out of me, the ax was the only thing keeping us from falling as it was embedded deep in the craft's roof. Marcus all but threw me up onto the flat surface and I quickly turned and helped him pull himself up beside me.

"Stay here!" he shouted over the noise of the wind howling past us. He disappeared down the side of the machine before I could reply. I could do nothing but stand there, and try not to fall while I listened to his voice call out for Kyle and Star. A part of the machine suddenly came to life behind me, extending one of its arms down in my friend's direction and coming back up holding him around the waist, ax gone. I screamed his name when it slammed him down onto the roof and ran over to try and help in any way I could. I grabbed his hands and pulled only to scream loudly again as we were both lifted into the air. Marcus' hands were the only thing keeping me from falling as I dangled in mid air, way to high up off the ground for anyone's comfort.

An explosion caught my attention, the other flying contraption had hit a canyon wall and blown up by what looked like a fighter jet. They opened fired on the thing holding us up, and it took several shots but it finally released Marcus and consequently me as well. We were forced to let go of one another when we collided with the metal of the ship and slid down on side of it. There was nothing on the smooth exterior to grab onto and we plummeted into the river below.

I don't think that I have ever been hit so hard in my entire life! I hit the water with enough force that I actually bounced and was propelled forward to hit the surface several more times before I finally stopped and sank. I surfaced and looked around, hoping to spot Marcus only to be submerged again when something huge hit the river.

I spluttered and gasped when I finally came up for air the second time. I could hear my name being called by a familiar voice, not to far to my left.

"Odessa! Odessa!" I took a deep breath and called back.

"Marcus!" I hated the slightly hysterical edge that was in my voice.

"Polo!" he shouted back, his voice barley hid a relieved laugh. I could hear splashing and turned to find him swimming toward me. I waited, treading water until he reached me then we both made our way to the nearest shore together.

"This place, time, whatever, is seriously screwed up." I sighed while I lay on the rocky shore.

"You got that right." he agreed, offering a hand and pulling me to my feet. We looked around but there was no sign of the craft that we had fallen off of. "We might as well go that way. We can figure out what is around us from up there." he pointed toward a tall hill where some power lines were located.

"Do you think they are alright?" I asked as we walked upwards.

"They will be fine, they're tough kids." I must have still looked worried. "Don't worry, we'll find them." he promised. I nodded, willing to take his word on it for the time being. Walking up the huge hill wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be when I saw it. I wasn't even out of breath by the time we reached the top. I was disappointed by the nothingness that stretched in every direction. Toward the bottom of the hill was another power line tower, and draped over the top of it was a bunch of dark fabric.

"Look!" I cried, pointing excitedly. There were ropes hanging form the fabric and a person was attached to the end of those ropes, swaying slightly. "I bet that is one of the people in those fighter jets that blew up that machine!"

"Don't get your hopes up Des, they may not even be alive." he said practically.

"Could you have at least a little optimism please?" I sighed.

"I just don't want you to be to upset if that person ends up to be dead. They fell a long way, and got tangled up on top of that."

"Yeah well, we fell a long way too, and we didn't even have parachutes like they did." I shrugged. He just grunted at me as we made our way down the sandy hill toward the dangling figure. As we got close, the person began to move. "Told you they were alive."

Whoever it was started to move their arms, searching for something. We knew that they found it when they suddenly dropped another couple of feet, now hanging feet down rather than on their backs. Marcus gestured for me to stay back as he jumped up onto the tower and began to climb upward. I watched curiously as he came level with the person and they took off their helmet. I was happy to see that it was a woman with long brown hair, a few shades lighter than my own. Marcus caught her attention and then reached for her boot, pulling out what looked like a knife and handing it to her. She began cutting at the only strap still holding her aloft. I gasped when it finally gave out and she dropped but Marcus' reflexes were faster and he reached out and grabbed onto one of her hands. I caught the look on his face when he gave her his name. Connection maybe? I think he has a crush! I suppressed a a giggle as he let her drop the last half a foot before climbing down himself. I moved forward, wanting to check her for injuries and introduce myself as well.

"Hi, I'm Odessa." she shook my hand briefly.

"Blair Williams." Marcus landed next to us and looked around again.

"That thing, where did it go?" he asked. She told is that it was a transport and that it was headed toward Skynet. There is that word again, Kyle kept saying it back in LA.

"Where the hell are you going?" she asked when he started to walk away and I followed.

"After it." I said simply.


	8. Chapter 8

Ok so this chapter is a little longer than the last because I don't know when I will get a chance to update again for a while. I just got a new job! Supper excited about that, and I will be going to school full time come September! Busy, busy, busy! I start next week so I will try really hard to get at least one more chapter out before I get really hectic! Love you all!

As always, reviews feed the muses so they are always welcome!

**~!DDM!~**

* * *

><p>"I hate to break it to you but if you have friends on that thing, they are as good as dead." she said it so casually that it instantly flared my usually nonexistent temper. I spun around and took a step toward her, fulling intent on punching that disinterested look right off her face, but Marcus caught me around the waist and held firm. She didn't even seem to notice, too busy squinting in the opposite toward the sun.<p>

"You'll be dead too if you keep walking in that direction." she said.

"We've been dead awhile now, we're starting to get used to it." he said over my shoulder.

"Why don't you guys come with me to my base, Connor might know a way." I know I looked skeptical but Marcus must have too because she continued quickly after looking back at us. "If you have a problem with the machines, he is definitely the guy you want to talk to."

"How far is your base?" I asked finally.

"One or two day hike, that way." she gestured in the opposite direction from where we wanted to go. I looked up at my friend who was still holding onto me and he looked back, not really seeing me, but thinking seriously about our options.

"If they have people who can help us, it would be better, and safer, not to go after them alone." he said softly. I sighed but nodded, seeing his point. I looked off the way our friends had been taken, wanting to get them back safely and if Marcus thought going with Blair was the best way to do that then I was going to trust him, I had this far and he hadn't steered me wrong. We followed after her, catching up after she looked over her shoulder at Marcus with a slight smirk then fixed me a superior look, obviously pleased the fact that he had chosen her offer rather than going the way I wanted. Uh oh, I know that look and it is less than friendly. I decided to keep Marcus between her and I as we walked, just to be on the safe side.

"I hope whatever happens to them, they won't get separated." I said sadly after a few minutes of quiet. "I really, really don't like the idea of Star alone with those things if they do get separated."

"Kyle will look after her, you know he will." Marcus said calmly. I continued to ramble on for quite a while, Marcus answering me from time to time when I voiced a serious concern. He had become used to my need to fill the silence with something, anything. Blair on the other hand, was not.

"Do you always talk this much?" she asked in a mildly scathing tone.

"I'm sorry, silence makes me really uncomfortable."

"Well, the more you talk the greater chance that you draw machines to us." she snapped, turning to give me a chilly glare. "So be quiet." I stepped closer to Marcus and he put and arm around my shoulders, giving it a little squeeze, the glare dropped a few degrees more degrees, it was positively arctic now.

Oh! That is why she doesn't like me, she has gotten my relationship with Marcus twisted. She thinks it romantic. I didn't have enough energy to worry about that for now so I decided to put that on the back burner and focus instead on staying quiet. I have no idea how long we walked, I completely zoned out, thinking about my family, friends from before I died, and worrying about the new ones that I'd made. I was brought back to the present when the sky opened up and started to pour on us, hard. We made our way more quickly toward what seemed to be an old race track, cars were everywhere, piles of tires and oil fires burned brightly despite the rain. We found shelter under tall pieces of metal and Blair asked Marcus to find things we could burn. She was kept checking her shoulder so he asked her if she was hurt.

"I'm fine." she said softly, giving him a look that I recognized.

"Des, check her out." he said before he left. The look she gave me was clearly recognizable as well, and far less pleasant. I stepped forward but she stepped back in response.

"I just want to make sure you are okay." I said gently, not wanting her to think that I am being patronizing. "I'm a doctor, I know what I'm doing."

"I said I'm fine." she protested, hanging up her gun and taking off her jacket and heading out into the rain. "Go help him find us something to burn."

I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere by arguing with her so I just did as I was told. Marcus raised an eyebrow at me when I opened the opposite door to the car he was looking in.

"She wouldn't let me help." I said shrugging. He nodded and went back to his search. After a moment I saw him turn to look back at our new companion and was curious by the slightly surprised look on his face. When I followed his gaze I saw a topless Blair, hands hiding most of her breasts, staring right back at him. I quickly ducked back down into the car so as not to ruin whatever moment they were having with my quiet giggles. After a few beats he turned back to the car, saw me sitting on the front seat, hands barley concealing my huge smile and muffling my giggles.

"I think she likes you." I managed through my hands. He rolled his eyes at me and closed the door. I waited until I was totally over my little fit before I reemerged. The rain had stopped and Marcus was nowhere to be seen so I went back over to Blair who was setting out what looked like antibiotics. Without really thinking about it I took over for her when I saw the way that she was having trouble reaching a medium sized scratch on the back of her shoulder. I was glad she had put her bra back on as I gently swabbed the area. I could see the protest on her lips and stopped her before she could get started.

"Don't say a word." I snapped, trying not to get to irritated by her constant attitude with me. She just sighed and turned back around so I could finish. She was zipping up her jacket and I was putting the medical supplies away when a male voice surprised us both.

"What you got there?" the man called loudly causing me to jump a little while Blair whipped around. The man came clumping down the bleachers behind us, wearing a ridiculous looking brown cowboy had, while a couple other men appeared on either side of us. All were armed and leering in a way that made me highly uncomfortable. Blair glanced back at me before answering and managing to sound very calm.

"Just some antibiotics." she touched the leather roll that held the supplies.

"Those are pretty hard to come by these days." a man in a baseball hat said, coming around beside us. They had us boxed in next to the large, water filled, monster truck tire we had been using as a work station.

"Listen, we don't have much, but you are welcome to whatever you need." Blair said as I inched closer to her. These men didn't look like they were after our medical equipment.

"We been watching you." the third man said, letting out a wolf whistle. Blair turned as if to go back to the metal structure we were using as a shelter only to find the man who had first spoken holding her gun up for inspection.

"Looking for this?" he taunted.

"Come on guys." she tried, glancing at me and most likely seeing that I was too scared to speak. "The machines are the enemy. We are all on the same side."

"No, no, no." the man holding her gun taunted some more. "You see, I got a couple of friends on my side, and all you had was her." We wee both confused by the past tense that he used when he mentioned me. That is, until Baseball hat, slung his shotgun over his shoulder and grabbed me from behind, one arm around my waist, the other around my shoulders. I didn't dare struggle, hoping not to escalate the situation any further.

"Tell him to let go of her and maybe your friends will be able to carry you home, when I'm done with you." Blair said bravely. The man pointed her gun at her face, cocking the hammer but she didn't even blink.

"You might want to chamber a round." she said calmly.

I could tell she was gearing up for something so I started struggling hard against my captor, hoping if nothing else that I could distract him. I used the only bit of self defense I knew and stepped on his foot as hard as I could in the same instance that she punched the leader in the face. Baseball hat let go of me with a shout, shoving me down and stepped forward in time for Blair to knee him in the stomach as well. I looked up in and saw the leader get behind Blair and hit her in the back of the head with her own gun, sending her into the muddy ground. I made to rise but was pushed back down when a heavy boot settle on my back. I watched, horror stricken as the two other men, laughing and shouting, hauled Blair to her feet and started to paw at her. I heard as well as felt heavy boot thudding against the ground toward us and relief wash over me.

The sound of wood on flesh cracked above me head and the man holding me down fell forward while I covered my head against the shower of wood splinters that cascaded down on me. I struggle to my feet, using the giant tire for help and watched as Marcus attacked the men holding Blair. I ducked to the side when he and an opponent came crashing in my direction, falling against the tire. Marcus grabbed the man's weapon, a screwdriver, and drove it deep into his shoulder. He turned around and was hit in the face by a large fist, it didn't seem to have any effect except to piss him off and he took on both remaining men at the same time. If I wasn't so scared I would have probably been impressed. The man with the screwdriver in his shoulder yanked it out, and tried to attack Marcus again. I kicked the attacker in the side of the knee as hard as I could, before I totally registered my actions. It popped out of place and I winced at the sight. He didn't fall far though, Marcus grabbed him by the shoulders and head butted him twice.

"Look out!" I screamed as Baseball hat cocked his shot gun, pointing it at Marcus' back.


	9. Chapter 9

YAY! Here's the newest chapter! Really sorry it took me so long to get out. Classes and work have been taking up SO much of my time, it sad really.

Hope you all enjoy this chapter. It's not quite as long as I would like it to be but I am still pretty happy with the way it came out!

Reviews feed the plot bunnies!

~!DDM!~

* * *

><p>He spun, still holding the man whose knee I dislocated, in his arms and used him as a shield against the shotgun blast. Baseball hat was obviously upset about shooting his friend and ran blindly at Marcus only to be punched in the stomach and brought to his knees. I hurried over to where Blair was standing, shaking her head slightly, probably trying to clear it and holding her gun in one hand. I watched Marcus knock the leader on his back, turn around and snatch the forgotten screwdriver from the mud and turn back to look at the pathetic man still sitting on his backside.<p>

"Killing me won't win this war." the man said, obviously trying to dissuade Marcus from hurting him further as my friend advanced on him menacingly. Beside me, Blair raised her weapon, furry written all over her face and fired on the man still scrambling back from Marcus. She shot him in the leg, nothing that would kill him, though I was stunned when I realized that I was slightly disappointed that he would be let to live. She threw the roll of antibiotics at him, an act of mercy I found myself disagreeing with. I guess I should start thinking of my Hippocratic Oath as the Hypocritical Oath now. Marcus threw the screwdriver down and turned away from the wounded man. He looked upset as he walked toward us so I met him in the middle.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly.

"I should be asking you both that, shouldn't I?" he sighed.

"We're fine." Blair said, still looking mad but it wasn't directed toward us.

We all walked away, leaving the man and his friends on the ground. All I could think was that I wasn't sure that I liked the fact that violence was beginning to feel common place to me, it no longer surprise me as much as it first did when that T600 thing shot at us.

We moved to the other side of the track next to a large fire. I was sitting next to Marcus, who was brooding over something, when Blair came back toward us, tossing a large piece of wood on the fire. I sighed and lay my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes while he leaned back against the sand pile behind us. I listened to his heart beat through his chest and felt myself relax, his arm went comfortingly around my shoulders.

"Thinking about your past?" I heard Blair's voice, volume low, probably because she thought I was asleep. When Marcus didn't answer I heard her sigh. "Do you know what I have learned Marcus? You can focus on what is lost or you can fight, for what is left." My hazy thoughts decided that that was a very deep thing for her to say. It was quiet for a moment before she spoke again.

"I'm a little cold." I didn't even open my eyes as I slid down to lay my head against Marcus' thigh, giving Blair room to lean against his chest, something, if all the looks she has been giving him were real, she really wanted to do. When I didn't hear her move I opened my eyes and looked over at her. She was staring at me, confused and clearly unsure. I reached up and patted his chest, a clear signal that she was to join us. She hesitated for a second before crawling over, lifting up his arm and leaning against him.

"Relax," I mumbled when I felt him tense beneath my head.

"I just want some body heat." Blair clarified as she lay her head on him. "You have a strong heart." she said quietly and I knew she was listening to it beat through his chest like I was through the femoral artery in his leg.

"God I love that sound." she whispered and I gave a little hum of agreement, feeling him relax again. She thanked him for saving her, us, I was surprised when she amended her statement before calling him a good guy. I was trying to tune them out, not wanting to get in the middle of their 'intimate moment', but when he disagreed with her statement I could hold back a soft scoff. His leg twitched in response but I didn't make any further sound. Instead, letting Blair be the one to inform him that he was really a good guy, he just didn't know it yet. I smiled at that.

"Do you think people deserve a second chance?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do." she answered without hesitation and I nodded against him. I felt his whole body relax completely, a large hand coming down to smooth over my hair and I just knew his other would be wrapped around Blair's shoulders.

He really was a good guy, no matter how much he wanted to deny it, it was only a matter of time before he came to grips with it.

The next day was blessedly devoid of rain! It was still overcast but not a drizzle dropped form the sky so I was very happy. I wasn't the only one in a good mood either. Blair seemed oddly chipper, the farther we walked, most likely due to the fact that we were getting closer and closer to her base. When we finally reached something that wasn't just bleak shrubs and sparse trees it was a welcome sight, until Marcus pointed at a yellow sign with a skull on it that was a clear signal to stay away.

Blair explained the symbols on the sign, the mark of the Resistance, which I recognized. The one that said the expanse of land before us was covered in magnetic mines and the last one that meant all we had to do was walk west and we would reach our destination. I sighed at the thought of more explosives and Blair rolled her eyes and said she would go first.

I was trailing slightly behind the other two, scuffing my boots across the sand covered, magnetic mine field when, just my luck, I tripped over my own two feet and fell on my hands and knees. Cursing under my breath, I glanced up and saw Blair barely trying to hide a superior smile and rolled my eyes. She definitely didn't understand the brother/sister relationship Marcus and I had developed and was so sure that there was more to it than there really was and I was starting to get really tired of it. I pushed myself up on my knees, about the rise to my feet when something metal literally jumped up from the sand and attached its self to my thigh. I had just enough time to look down in confusion, and hear Marcus shout my name before my entire world was rocked. There was an explosive noise and I was blasted backward, landing hard, pain radiating from my leg. My ears were ringing and intense pain was starting to block everything else out, but I was able to hear a second explosion nearby and this time Blair was the one yelling.

I felt someone's arms slip underneath me and lift me off the ground, grumbling in surprise about how heavy I was. The last thought I had before passing out was that whoever was carrying me was a jerk and how dare he call me fat!

I don't know how long I was unconscious for but I was awakened rather rudely the loud bang of metal on stone. My head was throbbing and my right thigh ached something awful, but what really caught my attention, was the fact that I was sitting against a slightly damp wall, my arms being held above my head by thick, heavy chains. This can't be good.

I concentrated on getting my barrings, taking stock of myself and my surroundings. It looked like I was in some kind of old fashion dungeon, complete with a large armed guard at the heavy metal door with the tiny observation window. The guard didn't even glance at me and he looked distinctly unfriendly. I wondered where Marcus was and if he was alright. I shifted and winced when pain radiated from my leg. I glanced down at where I knew a wound would be, was forced to take a double take and managed to swallowed what would have been a very high pitched, hysterical scream but was unsuccessful at stifling the horrified gasp that took its place.


	10. Chapter 10

Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I was stuck for a bit on what direction I wanted this to go. I think I have finally figured it out!

I want to thank the people that reviewed and the ones that added me to their alerts! This chapter is a little longer than usual so I hope that makes you all happy!

Let me know what you think of this chapter!

Lots of love!

~!DDM!~

Usual disclaimers apply!

* * *

><p>The skin of my thigh was covered in severe burns, a large portion of it was actually missing! I was glad that the room didn't smell like charred skin. The hem of my improvised dress was badly scorched, fabric burnt away in several places. What really threw me through a loop though was that no bone or muscle was exposed like you would expect with the kind of trauma that my leg obviously sustained from the mine, the wound wasn't even all that large, only taking up about three quarters of my thigh, it didn't even hurt as much as I would have thought. No, what really rocked me, was that it was all wire and metal beneath the skin!<p>

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" I was starting to officially freak out now. If it wasn't bad enough that I woke up chained in a dungeon, now I had to contend with the fact that my leg looked like something out of a science fiction movie. "Oh my god! "Oh my god! Oh my..."

"Would you shut up!" the guard snapped angrily, finally breaking his stoney silence.

"Shut up? Shut up? Do you see this? Do you see it! Its... its...oh my god!"

"Yeah, you're a machine, don't pretend to be so surprised."

"Who is pretending? Do you see this? This is freaky!" I tugged at the chains again, taking deep breaths to stave off a total meltdown. I have always been good at keeping myself together in stressful situations but this whole thing was really beginning to test my limits.

"Where is Marcus?" I demanded next, trying to push my confusing new development to the back of my mind to analyze later and focus instead on something I knew for sure, Marcus was my friend, and he wasn't sitting next to me so he had to be somewhere else. I couldn't even entertain the idea that he wasn't next to me because he was hurt or dead. Positive thoughts, positive thoughts!

"I am done talking to you, machine."

"My name is Odessa."

"Whatever, machine."

I huffed angrily and slouched as much at my restraints would let me. I am not a machine, I think I would know if I were a machine or not. I was born, I had parents, I went to school, I had friends...I died, I woke up years later...I fell more than one hundred feet off a fast moving, flying machine into water without so much as a scratch, a magnetic mine blew me off my feet...

Oh my god I thought I knew what confusion was when I woke up in the rain, now I don't know what to think anymore! I was so lost in my mental freak out that I didn't even notice when the door was dragged open. I didn't realize that someone else had entered my little dungeon until they cleared their throat. I looked up and came face to face with a ruggedly handsome, scowling man. He had his arms crossed and was staring intently at me. I drew my legs up close to me, ignoring the stab of pain it caused, trying to look as small as possible.

"Why are you here?" the man demanded. His voice was deep like Marcus' but sounded like it had a handful of gravel thrown into it. I had heard it somewhere before.

"Who are you?" I asked cautiously.

"My name is John Connor, but you already knew that, didn't you." Of course, that is why I asked, genius.

"You are the man from the radio." I finally put the voice to the name. We listened to this man talk about the Resistance after Marcus had fixed Kyle's radio back in LA. God that seemed like a life time ago when in actuality it had only been a few days.

"Why are you here?" he demanded again.

"Some friends of ours were snatched by some kind of flying machine, Blair said if anyone could help us find them, it was you."

"'Our' friends? You mean your partner, the male machine."

"Marcus isn't my partner, he is my friend. We have been searching this god forsaken place for someone who could help us figure out what the hell is going on. Blair said you would be able to help us. But you won't, will you? You won't help us get them back and you won't help us figure out what has happened to us." I was trying hard not to cry. He turned away from me to talk quietly with the man still guarding the door.

"You were surprised when you saw your leg." It was a statement not a question. "The other one was surprised too. As if neither of you knew that you were machines." before I could answer, there was another knock on the door. A dark skinned man poked his head into the room.

"What is it Barns?" John asked, clearly irritated.

"Blair said you wanted to see me." John looked confused for a couple of seconds before realization dawned on his face at the same moment that it appeared on the man named Barns' face. They both hurried out of the room, leaving me with my unfriendly guard. It was quiet besides the soft drip of water as it trickled from a crack in a pipe, when the room walls shook slightly, something exploded near my little cell. I wasn't pleased with how natural it was starting to feel to be around things like that. What was it with these people and blowing things up?

"What is going on?" I asked when the sound of shouting and many pairs of feet rushing past floated in from under the door. Without answering my guard left, slamming the door behind him.

I was all alone for quite a while before the door was forcefully open and John Connor made an appearance again, looking less than collected. He was looking at me in a new way, it was more intense than than the way he looked at me during his first visit.

"What do you call yourself, machine?" he demanded. This man does not know how to ask for things nicely.

"My _name _isOdessa and I'm not a machine, I am a doctor." He was quiet for a minute, that intense look never leaving his face. He was trying hard to figure something out but was having trouble. "What happened out there?"

"Your partner escaped."

"Marcus is gone? How?"

"Blair helped him escape." I nodded in understanding. It didn't really surprise me that she helped him get out of whatever situation he was in and left me to my fate.

"Blair helped him escape, does that mean that she is still here?" he seemed surprised that I even asked.

"She is being held for questioning."

"So she is okay isn't she?" He nodded once. I was glad that she was alright, just because she doesn't like me doesn't mean that I have to dislike her back. John came closer, crouching down to my level, I flinched away from him involuntarily and that seemed to bother him.

"He said he doesn't know what he is."

"Marcus?" he nodded, then waited, obviously expecting me to say something.

"He and I woke up together."

The eyebrows shot up and I know that my face turned red.

"Not like that!" Perv! "We woke up in the mud, being pelted by rain, surrounded by bodies and bits of what I am pretty sure was helicopter. I'm supposed to be dead! I died! People aren't supposed to come back after they die, it's usually a pretty permanent condition." I was fighting back tears again.

"You died?" I nodded.

"I did! I was minding my own business having lunch with my best friend and a man walked right up to me and shot me! Just shot me for no reason!"

"When?"

"When did I die?" he nodded. "It was 2004."

Again with the silence, the intense and calculating look. I had no idea what was going through his mind and I wasn't sure that I really even wanted to know.

"You know Kyle Reese?" he demanded, I nodded. I was doing that a lot around him.

"How?

"Why?" I asked cautiously, I like Kyle and if this man wanted to hurt him I didn't want to be the one who gave him up.

"How do you know him?" he demanded again.

"Why do you want to know?" I demanded right back.

"He is very important to me, to the Resistance. If you know where he is, I need to know." It was my turn to study his face intently, searching for any sign that he was lying.

"We met him in LA. It was the first place we found after we woke up. He saved us from something that he called a Terminator. He said it was a T600."

"Was he alone?"

"No, he had a little mute girl with him. Her name is Star. He said they were the last of the Resistance in LA."

"The other machine, he said Kyle Reese was in Skynet."

"He and Star both were snatched by some flying craft. That is why we came here. We found Blair after her jet went down. She said that if we were having problems with machines, you were the one to talk to." he just stared at me for a few minutes.

"You said you are a doctor?" that question came as a surprise.

"Yes..."

"Do you have much experience?" I couldn't help but wonder where he was going with this.

"I died before I could finish my first full day of work but I know my trade and I am good at what I do."

"Your partner, Marcus," He seemed really hung up on the idea of Marcus as my partner. "He said he would help me find Kyle Reese inside Skynet before it gets bombed. I've put a lot of faith in him, do you think he will pull through for me?" he must be used to being in charge and listened to because everything he asked was voiced as a demand.

"Did he say he would help?" I got a curt nod in response. "Then he will do it."

"Can I put the same faith in you?"


	11. Chapter 11

Yay for another chapter! I want to say a special thanks to casey21791 for the review! I tweaked the couples around a little due to a suggestions I liked from a reader! This one is a little longer than the other chapters.

Let me know what you guys think!

~!DDM!~

* * *

><p>"What?"<p>

"I thought I knew who the enemy was, what they looked like." He sighed heavily, rubbing one large hand over his buzzed hair. "I look at you and your partner, I talk to you, and I don't know what to think anymore. I can see it in your face, you truly believe what you are saying. I've taken a huge risk with your partner, and I am about to do it again with you. I am just hoping against hope that I haven't shot myself in the foot with either decision."

"What exactly do you want me to do?" I asked cautiously. He shifted in his crouched position, putting one knee on the ground, leaning his crossed arms on the other, leaning further toward me.

"We constantly have injured people that need medical attention. We have one, main doctor but she is reaching the end of her second trimester and getting overwhelmed even though she won't admit it." He shook his head. "None of our other med techs are really qualified enough to preform anything more than general first aid. Can I trust you enough to let you out of here, with supervision of course, can't have you wondering around on your own."

"You want me to fix people up with a babysitter looking over my shoulder the whole time?" another curt nod. "Okay."

I didn't even have to think about that one, anything to get out of this horrible little room.

He straightened up to his considerable height and I used my restraints as leverage to help me to my feet. The light ache in my thigh that had mostly gone away while I was sitting still, came back with a vengeance the moment I stood up. I whimpered, pathetic I know but I couldn't help it. I swayed, bumping my arm against the wall and winced as my bullet graze reminded me of its presence.

"Do you think that I could patch myself up before I work on anyone else? I look a little gruesome." I looked down at my leg. "Okay, really gruesome."

My wrists were released and I rubbed them softly. I had never been bound like that before, it was not an experience I was willing to repeat anytime soon. The man, who had taken up his position standing silently at the door, watched me suspiciously as I followed John past him and into the dimly lit hallway. I stayed as close to my escort as I could without holding onto him as we walked past people, all armed, all glaring at me like I was the worst thing to ever walk to earth. Some of them whispered nasty things as I passed but I did my best to ignore them. I felt like I was in high school all over again and it wasn't a nice feeling at all.

I was so happy when we entered the room that they were using as an infirmary. It was cleaner than anyplace I had seen so far, medical tools and supplied were displayed neatly off to one side, several raised cots were in a row off to the other side. I instantly felt more comfortable, surrounded by things I knew. I didn't hesitate to head straight over to the gauze and bandage tape that was on the counter but was stopped from touching anything when a pale hand latched tightly onto my wrist.

I looked up in surprise, and hesitated when I was faced with the angry glare on the face of a pretty, and very pregnant, red haired woman. Her eyes trailed down my arm to the red stained cloth, the sign of the Resistance, and further still to my bullet nick shown through a rip in the coat and right down to my thigh, wires and metal visible to everyone. The look of disgust on her face while she stared at my leg was more painful than the grip she had on my arm. She shoved me away from the medical equipment and back toward John who had stopped just inside the doorway.

"What is that thing doing in here?" she sneered at me.

"She is going to be helping you during her stay here." he said firmly.

"She most certainly is not. She doesn't belong in here." She turned her back to us. "Get that_ machine_ out of my infirmary."

"Actually, I really could be of some help." I flinched when she returned her glare to me. "I...I have a medical degree, I studied to be a trauma surgeon." she scoffed, a skeptical expression on her pretty face.

"So when did you graduate, machine."

"My name is Odessa and I graduated the same year I died, 2004." Her whole body froze.

"She is going to help you out in here Kate, and that is final." John looked down at me. "Go wrap yourself up, then assist her in any way she needs you." he turned and left before either of us could say anything else.

"How far along are you?" I asked after a few minutes of tense, awkward silence.

"Its none of your business, a machine wouldn't truly understand anyway." she snapped, obviously not pleased that she was forced to share my company.

I sighed, grabbed the bandage tape, gauze, some anti-bacterial ointment and hoisted myself up onto one of the raised cots. I could see Kate watching me out of the corner of my eye. I slathered on a thin layer of the ointment onto my thigh, I am not completely sure that metal can get infected but better safe than sorry. I was tempted to use a bit more but I wasn't sure how much a place like this would have access to and I didn't want to use their limited supply frivolously. I placed the gauze over the exposed area then carefully wrapped the tape around it to hold it in place. I was very happy with my results when I finished, pleased that the gruesome inner workings of my leg were now hidden. I examined the wound in my arm through the tear in my sleeve before deeming bandaging it unnecessary. I would have to do something about the growing hole in my arm.

Kate looked surprised but didn't say anything when I hopped off the cot and put everything I didn't use back in its proper place. I waited for her to say something but she seemed determined to ignore me. John had said that there were people who needed to be tended to but no one was in the room but us. At least I wasn't in my little dungeon anymore. Did he tell me I could be useful just to give me a reason to leave that horrible little room? That would have been almost nice of him. I went back over to the cot and sat on it, not having anything else to do. I crossed my legs, restlessly, even in an unwelcoming atmosphere silence defeated me.

"Do you know if its a boy or a girl yet?" I asked softly. I didn't expect an answer.

"I don't know, we don't have the equipment to check that kind of thing." I nodded in understanding.

"When are you due?"

"A couple of months. We don't know the exact date."

"Do you have any names picked out?"

"Barns and I are still discussing our options." Barns...the man who Blair tricked into thinking John needed him in order to help Marcus escape.

"Is that his last name?" I was talking just for the sake of keeping the silence at bay.

"Yes."

"Why do you call him by his last name?"

"Habit I suppose. Everyone calls him Barns." she suddenly spun her chair around and glared at me. "Why do you want to know all of this? What use could it possibly be to you?"

"It isn't really of any use at all." I hesitated. "I really don't like quiet, I need to fill it with something. I can't even sleep when its too quiet. I used to have a white noise machine in my room at school but lately I've been using Marcus as my white noise.

"Listening to his gears turning?" she asked snidely.

"No, I listen to his heart, and his breathing when he sleeps." I shrugged.

"His heart? Machines don't have hearts." I checked my pulse and offered my wrist out to her.

"Do you want to check?"

She looked curious but still suspicious of any ulterior motive that I may have. She stood, grabbed her stethoscope and slowly approached me. Taking my outstretched arm and pressed her fingers against my pulse point, I could see her counting the beats in her mind before she moved up to check the side of my neck. She quickly put on her stethoscope and hesitated for a second, obviously wondering how she could get to my skin without being rude, at least she was a polite doctor. I unzipped the borrowed jacket I was still wearing and gave her a clear path to my heart without flashing her.

She breathed on the end of the stethoscope, heating it up, most likely out of habit, before she pressed it against my skin. The longer she held it there the more confused she looked. She kept glancing between my chest and my thigh, and I knew that they probably contradicted everything she though she knew about who and what I was.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly when she didn't speak for several moments.

"You have a heart. I saw the one in the other machine's chest but I never thought..." she whispered, bringing the stethoscope back up to my chest again. "A real...human...heart..."

She looked completely shocked, her breathing was escalating rapidly and she had a hand on her swollen stomach. I hopped off the bed and helped her back to her chair, bending over her with my hands gently kneading her shoulders.

"Breath," I said gently. "Slow, deep breaths. In through your nose," she inhaled. "And out through your mouth." she exhaled slowly.

"Good, again." She did as she was told. "That's it, just breath. Are you lightheaded at all?" she nodded, still doing the breathing exercise. "Keep breathing, do you need to lie down?" She shook her head negatively and continued to breath.

I wanted to run some tests on her blood pressure for the sake of the baby but before I could put those plans into action two people came bursting through the door. I looked at the two new visitors, one angry, one stern and serious. I recognized both of them, Barns and John.

"What the hell are you doing? Get the hell away from her, disgusting machine, get your hands off of her!" he had his weapon drawn so I quickly did as I was told, backing away with my hands raised in surrender as he surged forward. We moved around one another in a circle until we had taken each others previous positions.

"What is going on in here?" John demanded, never just asks, always demands, we are going to have to work on that.

"She has a heart." Kate whispered. "She has a heart Barns."

He looked over his shoulder at her, standing between us and still pointing his gun at me. He obviously wasn't willing to turn his back to me.

"What are you talking about? It's a machine Kate. Machines don't have hearts, they are all wires and metal, they are programmed, they don't feel! They don't have emotions, and they sure as hell don't have hearts!"

"Are you sure?" John asked. "The other one had a heart, we could see it with all the damage done to him."

"The 'other one' has a name." I said, annoyed and worried about the condition Marcus might be in, but I never lowered my hands, they remained raised and clearly visible. They ignored me.

"I checked, wrist, neck, chest, her pulse is strong. Just like the other..."

"Marcus." I interjected.

"Just like, the other one." she talked over me.

"Barns, lower your gun." John said firmly.

"No way in hell. That thing was touching my wife, my baby. What were you doing with your hands on her machine?" I gave up trying to get them to use my name, or Marcus' for the moment.

"She was starting to have the beginnings of a panic attack after she listened to my heart. I was just helping her calm her breathing and relax again before she upset the baby. I wasn't trying to hurt anyone, I was trying to help."

"I don't believe you." Barns spat angrily.


	12. Chapter 12

Yay, new chapter out faster than usual! I hope you all enjoy it! As always, let me know!

~!DDM!~

* * *

><p>"Its okay Barns, she is telling the truth." Kate said softly as she tried to stand from her chair with a little difficulty before giving up and sitting back with a huff. "I was beginning to hyperventilate, she was just trying to help." she looked like she swallowed a lemon getting the words out, she didn't like to admit that anymore than he wanted to hear it. He still hesitated lowering his gun, it went down just a little but not all the way.<p>

"Put it away Barns." John demanded again. I was slowly inching my way toward John until I was standing slightly behind him, using his solid body as a barrier between me and the firearm. He turned his head to look at me, his eyes traveled downward and I followed his gaze. I felt my face turning pink as I pulled the zipper of my jacket back up where it belonged. I did my best to ignore the smirk that presented itself on his face, focusing instead on the man with the weapon still trained on mine.

Barns seemed to really be struggling with putting his weapon away, but finally he conceded, putting it back in its holster. Looking at the holster caused me to look at the rest of Barns' attire. He was completely decked out in a heavy duty vest, pants and boots, he was outfitted with more than just the gun he had pointed at my face. John was dressed similarly, just as many weapons, thick boots and bullet proof vest. There wasn't a huge difference between what they were wearing earlier and what they were wearing now but there were definitely more weapons strapped to both of them.

"What did you come in here for John, Barns?" She seemed to have put herself back together enough to succeed in standing and was also looking over their battle ready gear.

"We are heading out, we got the signal from the male machine," I didn't even bother to say anything at all, knowing it wouldn't be listened to. "You are both coming with us. Let's move."

He turned and left the room without another word. I was nervous almost immediately and hesitated. Neither Barns nor Kate had moved because I was between them and the exit. Not wanting to cause further problems I hurried after the only person who wasn't openly disgusted by my presence. Everything around me was abuzz with movement, people were hurrying in every direction but they still managed to glare at me as they passed. I walked faster, catching up with John as quickly as possible, not wanting to be alone with any of these people. I followed him to a helicopter and was stunned when he turned and lifted me into the transport before hoisting himself up and sitting in the seat next to me.

"Where are we going?" I asked nervously.

"To meet up with more of the Resistance." he growled at me. I didn't dare ask anymore than that when Barns appeared and helped Kate into her seat across from John while he took the one across from me, glare still firmly in place. I have never been in a helicopter before, only seen bits and pieces of them when I woke up in the mud. It was louder than I thought it would be. John had a headset on and appeared to be speaking to the pilot.

I leaned toward the open door to watch the scenery that streaked by. We flew over a body of water and I was surprised by how beautiful it was. The sun shining off the water's surface, the colors changing with the depths, the whitecaps were in continuous motion as the waves rose and fell. I leaned farther out of my seat, trying to see more when I felt a hand grab hold of the back of my jacket and tug me back into my chair. John was gripping a handful of my jacket with one hand, holding one side of his headset with the other and still talking into the mouth piece. He spared me a brief glance, nodding toward my seat in a clear signal to sit back. I did as silently instructed, ignoring Barns who rolled his eyes and Kate who was looking curiously surprised.

We touched down in the middle of a large airstrip, there were people everywhere, going in and out of a hanger maybe a hundred yards from us. I waited patiently for Barns to help Kate from the helicopter, watching closely to make sure that she didn't need any medical attention, even for things she was trying to hide. Like the fact that she did her best to suppress a flinch when she was placed back on her feet, they were obviously bothering her, she needed to sit down as soon as possible. John exited right after them and turned at the same time I stood, gripped me around my waist and lifted me out of the transport and onto the tarmac, then turned without a word and followed Barns and Kate to the hanger. I hurried after them, not liking the way most of these people were staring at me, probably because I got out of the chopper with their leader. At least it wasn't hostile like it was with the people where I came from but as more helicopters landed, filled with faces that I recognized, I knew the curiosity that came with my anonymity was bound to change into hostility soon enough.

There was a large station in the middle of the hanger, radios piled high and a man was sitting in front of them, fiddling with knobs and listening to something coming through the headset he was wearing. John, Barns, Kate and several others I didn't recognize were standing near the radio station, pouring over maps on a high table. I looked around and spotted what I was searching for. I had to duck and weave through the throng of people to get to my goal. There were people sitting at a metal table, sorting out weapons and a couple of the chairs were empty. I snagged one and carried it back through all of the busy people until I reached my original group. I put the chair behind Kate and touched her shoulder gently, not wanting to startle her. She and Barns both turned, causing everyone around the table to look at me. I did my best to ignore them, gesturing instead to the chair that I'd brought, telling Kate quietly to take a seat. I actually got a small, grateful smile from her and a surprised, slightly incredulous look from Barns. I helped Kate sit slowly onto the chair and she let out a relieved sigh. John cleared his throat after a moment of silence and everyone's attention returned to him. I remained standing behind Kate, ready to help her if she needed it.

Once John handed out everyone's assignments they scattered, leaving only Barns, Kate, the radio man and myself. They were all talking to the man who monitored the radios when someone stepped up beside me. I was shocked to find Blair standing next to me.

"Hi." I said quietly.

"Glad to see you are alright." she didn't even try to sound believable. I was tired of being surrounded by enemies.

"What is your problem with me?" I asked her, turning to face her completely.

"You mean besides the fact that you are a machine." I couldn't suppress my laugh.

"Marcus is a machine." I reminded her. She turned to glare at me. "Did you forget that, or is having metal parts only wrong when it's me?"

"I don't see a machine when I look at him, I see a man."

"That's good, I would hate for him to be with someone who didn't really like him for who he is."

"Yeah well," she hesitated, confused. "Wait...aren't the two of you...together? You were sleeping on his shoulder before I joined you, for body heat."

"Oh right, body heat, if that is what you have to tell yourself." I laughed. "Marcus is like my brother, I was using his heartbeat to help me relax and get some sleep, nothing more."

"You aren't together?" she was beginning to look sheepish.

"Nope, so you can stop acting like the jealous girlfriend." I teased. "We are close, we needed to be with a situation like ours. We were all alone and needed to lean on one another for support." she nodded in understanding.

"I'm sorry that I didn't try and save you too." she said softly.

"It's okay, I know how it is to want the guy you like to like yo back. Besides, you getting him out of where ever they had him and causing the commotion that you did forced John believe some things that he probably wouldn't have without a serious push and got him to let me out of my little dungeon. So even though you left me behind," I paused for effect and hid a smile when she shifted uncomfortably. "You also helped me out..."

We were quiet for a few minutes, watching John argue with whoever was on the other end of the radio.

"John mentioned that Marcus was hurt. He said that you could see his heart because of all of the damage that was done to him. Is he okay?" I wasn't sure if I really wanted to know or not but I had to ask.

"He was a little banged up but none of it slowed him down any. He's tough." Her name was called and she turned to leave but I caught her arm before she could walk away.

"Thank you Blair, I mean it." she gave me a small smile and I let go of her and turned back to the radio conversation that had gotten progressively louder.

"You are hereby relieved of your command, from this moment on, you are no longer part of this Resistance!" the angry voice shouted, shocking everyone listening before it cut off.

"I didn't hear that last order." Barns said, the man at the radio agreed instantly and Kate nodded. Barns left to take care of his duties, leaving Kate and I alone with John. He began packing a backpack with what looked to me like explosives and an old fashioned radio. The way he kept glancing around was like a kid trying to get cookies out of the jar before their parents caught him. Kate obviously thought his behavior was suspicious as well because she motioned for me to help her out of her chair. I did so and she waddled slowly toward him, me trailing behind her.

"You're leaving aren't you." she said when we reached him.


	13. Chapter 13

Here is the new chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it!

Thanks to those of you who added alerts for this story and a special thanks to CherryBlossomTrinity for the wonderful review! It helped me get this chapter out sooner!

Let me know what you think!

Enjoy!

~!DDM!~

* * *

><p>I felt a stab of panic shoot through me at the thought of him leaving.<p>

"Are you going to find Marcus? Did he contact you?" All I got was a nod in response. "I'm going with you, I want to help."

"No."

"I can help, you have to let me do what I can."

"What you can do, is stay here where it's safe and help Kate." Kate was looking back and forth between us, watching us with interest.

"Nothing about this place is safe, I haven't been safe since I woke up here! I can help, don't be so stubborn!"

"I said no! You will stay here, both of you." Kate raised her hands in surrender, but the smirk on her face belied her sincerity and betrayed her slight amusement. I couldn't believe he actually thought I would willingly just stay here.

"I want to help you, help Marcus." Something I didn't recognize flashed across his face before a new idea chased it away.

"You are going to be needed here when everyone gets back. The medics are going to need your assistance with any injured that we rescue. Help them set up somewhere for the infirmary and help them with anything that they need." Damn him for appealing to my need to help other people, I have to help those who really need it.

"Fine." he smirked when he saw his victory was clearly before him.

"What do we tell your men when they find out that you are gone?" Kate asked, finally stepping back into the conversation now that the argument part of it was over.

"I'll be back." he nodded to us before he turned and jogged out of the hanger.

"The man thinks he is the Lone Ranger." I huffed, Kate raised an eyebrow at me clearly amused. I prefer it when she finds something humorous, it keeps that almost bitter edge out of her eyes and voice.

"He will be fine, stop pouting."

"I am not pouting!" I protested. She just shook her head and waddled off. I frowned at her before following after her once more. She began barking orders at people as she went, obviously used to wielding whatever power she held. Most people glared at me as I passed, word had obviously been spread about me. We reached an area curtained off from everywhere else, being used as the medical room. I haven't seen anything like this set up outside pictures form a brochure for Doctors Without Borders. I took a deep breath as I looked around, the other three medics in the room had yet to notice me so I stayed close to Kate. I was helping her sterilize equipment when the only male in the room finally spotted me.

"I had heard that you picked up a new pet Kate." he sneered. I guess I just have to get used to people hating me for simply existing. "What is it doing in here?" Kate glanced at him, unimpressed.

"Connor assigned her to the med unit." she said flatly. I knew that she couldn't exactly tell him off, even if she wanted to, because those were almost the exact words that she had said to me when I first stepped into her infirmary. I really didn't want any sort of confrontation, all I wanted to do was keep my head down, stay out of everyone's way and make sure that Kate didn't overexert herself, which she has obviously been doing in the past.

"So just because Connor snapped his fingers doesn't mean that that thing is welcome here. How the hell could a machine possibly be able to help when it comes to the human anatomy?"

"I have a medical degree." I said softly, I've been saying that a lot lately. "I studied to be a trauma surgeon," I feel like a broken record with these people. "I'd like to help out where I can." He glared at me.

"You mean you were programmed."

"No, I studied."

"Being downloaded with information isn't the same thing as being able to use it in a practical, high pressure situation."

"I didn't download anything. I went to school, I studied, I took tests, both practical and written, I know what I'm doing."

"You are a machine." he snapped.

"I wasn't born that way!" I snapped right back. He and the other med techs froze, staring at me like deer caught in headlights as I yelled at him. "I was born human! I grew up human! I died human! I woke up, fourteen years later, like this!" I gestured wildly to my still wrapped leg. I was quickly becoming upset, all of the freaking out that I had been fighting so hard to keep at bay was creeping up on me fast and I fought it back with everything I had.

"I woke up, not knowing where I was or how I got there, the only thing I knew was that I wasn't alone and now the only person I trust is off trying to help you people. I am not a soldier but I am trying to help you in anyway that I can. But none of you can even seem to be civil human beings!" I turned away from all of them and returned to sterilizing the tools on the counter. I needed to do something familiar to keep myself from falling apart completely. Nobody said anything, it was silent, but I wasn't willing to speak to these people, not even to fight off the evil foe that is silence. Instead, I started humming to myself. I can't sing to save my life, my voice is completely off key but that never stopped me before and it won't stop me now.

Several time, one of the other woman sighed dramatically but I ignored her and kept humming to myself, as I methodically lay out the surgical tools. Kate left some time later, leaving me with the others but not once did I stop humming, not willing to give them a moment to talk to me. I was fastidiously organizing the supply of gauze and medical tape when she came bursting through the curtains looking seriously harassed. I was about to tell her to sit down, her face was flushed and her blood pressure was clearly through the roof. I didn't get the chance to say anything because she was quickly followed by Barns.

"Let's go." he snapped, turning on his heel and leaving just has quickly as he came. None of the others hesitated to follow him, grabbing up supplies and shoving them all in plastic bags and running out of the room. I stood, confused but Kate grabbed my arm and towed me after everyone else. I was shoved into a chopper, similar to the one that I had ridden in a few hours ago and we took off almost in the same moment.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"We are going to Skynet, we need to get John out of there before he blows it to high hell." Barns said, checking and rechecking his sidearm. Everyone in the helicopter was fidgeting restlessly the whole way. We landed about twenty, stress and tension filled, minutes later in the middle of what looked like a huge city, there were tons of people hurrying out of one of the main buildings. I spotted Kyle and Star running along with a group of other people and screamed their names. They saw me and quickly ran in my direction. I met them halfway, pulling them both into a big hug, I'd been so worried about them.

"He is still in there!" Kyle shouted over all the noise.

"Who?" I asked.

"John Connor!" Kate made it over to us and quickly dragged all of us over to Barns.

"He knows where John is!" she told him over all the noise around us. Kyle spoke with Barns batting at me as I tried to look him over for injuries. I focused instead on Star who stood silently next to me, holding onto the end of my jacket dress. I noticed Barns disappear out of the corner of my eye but kept checking Star. Besides being quite shaken she seemed to be okay. I helped her onto the helicopter before forcing Kyle on after her. It was easier now that I was slowly coming to terms with my new 'condition'. I was much stronger than I thought that I was and even though he struggled I still managed to get Kyle onto the craft without too much effort. I turned when I heard Kate cry out Barns' name, then John's. I was so relieved to see him being carried by not only Barns but also Marcus!

He was okay!

They laid John out as gently as they could, and I saw the large blood stain spreading across his chest. Kate told the pilot to scramble a surgical team and I became even more worried. I reached out and took hold of one of Marcus' hands, it was totally devoid of flesh, nothing left but metal but I didn't even flinch. He looked over at me and I gave his hand a quick squeeze before turning back to help Kate with John. He was watching Skynet fly by below us, looking disappointed. That look vanished when Star handed him a small black box with a metal switch on it. I grabbed hold of the little girl and held her tightly to me because I knew what the box did. I had seen action movies before and that coupled with the passion that these people seem to have for blowing things up told me exactly what that seemingly harmless little box did. John pushed the button and we all watched with satisfaction as flames consumed the buildings below us.

We touched down on a flat sandy plain that stretched on for miles. Kate had called it a 'safe zone' and there was a medical tent all set up by the time we got there. Medics converged on the helicopter as soon as it touched the ground. They quickly and carefully moved John from the craft and onto a bed where they hooked him up to I V's and went about bandaging him up. I wanted to help but none of them were willing to let me get close enough to him to do anything. In the end, I just stood back with Blair, Marcus and the others. I thought about mentioning to them that John had specifically told me that I was to help them with any injured that were rescued from Skynet but thought better of it.

I stood as close to Marcus as I could, glad to have him back. He seemed to have the same thought because his arm went around my waist to held me closer. Kate came over to us when she and the others were finished doing what they could.

"How is he?" Barns asked. Kate had tears running down her face.

"His heart, it can't take the strain, he doesn't have long." she whispered. Barns hugged her close, whispering reassuring words to her. Our attention was drawn back to John when he softly called for Kyle. We all watched as the young man approached the Resistance leader. John gestured to his jacket and told Kyle to take it. Marcus quickly moved forward and draped the jacket around Kyle's shoulders. I almost cried as I watched Kyle reverently touch the red Resistance symbol in the left sleeve and John telling him he earned it.

"Kate." we all looked at Marcus. He was looking down at his chest but finally looked her in the eye.

"Take mine."


	14. Chapter 14

I am sorry it took so long to get this chapter out! Life unfortunately just keeps getting in the way! Now that summer is over, my hours at work will be less but school will be taking its place.

I was having a hard time choosing if I wanted to stop things where the movie ended and possibly make a sequel or to just continue on. Finally I decided to keep going as long as my inspiration will let me!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter and again I am sorry it took so long to get it out! I promise the next one will be out much, much sooner!

~!DDM!~

* * *

><p>I stared at him, shocked, but it was Blair who spoke up in protest first.<p>

"Everybody deserves a second chance. This is mine." he said softly before turning to look at me.

"You are a surgeon, aren't you? You said it yourself, you know what you are doing. I need you to be the one to do it. I believe in you, you can do this." I just stared at him. He took my face in his large mismatched hands. "Odessa, do this for me, please." I did cry this time.

I threw myself into his arms and cried into his chest because I knew that I would do what he wanted. He just held me tightly until I had mostly pulled myself together, I stepped back, nodding slowly. Blair touched my shoulder and I moved out of her way. She quickly took my place, kissing him soundly. Star and Kyle both came forward to hug him, Star wrapping her little hand around his much larger and mostly metal one.

Marcus took a deep breath before laying back on the cot next to John's. I watched as Kate inserted the I V into the vein in the crook of his elbow, taking my own deep breaths to calm myself. After she was finished, I came up beside him, leaned down and pressed my forehead against his.

"You are my hero, Marcus, my brother." I whispered, eyes closed.

"Love you too little sister." he whispered back. He took one last deep breath, his whole body relaxed and I knew he was ready.

After that everything moved extremely quickly, we had a very short window of time for the surgery to be successful so I switched instantly into what Grace used to call 'Doctor Mode'. There were several people who attempted to stop me when I took up position as head surgeon. They will all need medical care themselves. Marcus asked me to do this for him and no one was going to stop me now that I had made up my mind. My hands moved mechanically through the whole procedure, I honestly can't remember any of it it is such a blur. The only part I clearly remember, is when I had Marcus' heart sutured to John's ventricles, I tapped it and it began to beat, strong and steady. I had done it! I couldn't believe I had been able to pull that surgery off successfully with the state I was in.

Under normal circumstances I would have mentored under a seasoned surgeon for years before I was trusted to preform the procedure under his supervision. I never would have believed myself capable of doing something like that when I was in school.

I stepped back and Kate took my place without hesitation, finishing off the operation by closing John's chest cavity over his new heart. I left the tent, sat down heavily on the sandy ground, removed my gloves, and cried. I don't know how long I sat there but when I felt arms wrap around me I looked up into Blair's face, she too had been crying. When Kate finally came out of the tent, she touched my shoulder before continuing on to look for her husband.

We didn't wait long before loading John into a chopper, I refused to let them leave Marcus there in the middle of nowhere when someone suggested it. Its one time I am not ashamed to say that I reacted violently and I broke that man's nose. I opted to ride with John, wanting to make sure that there were no complications during the trip back to base. His life was Marcus' last sacrifice, I wasn't about to let that be ruined.

When we landed, I instructed the now slightly conscious John to be taken to the infirmary. No one argued with me, just did as they were told. Barns promised me that Marcus would be taken to an isolated, guarded room until we could bury him. He seemed to have warmed to me slightly after I saved his friend and leader's life. I didn't go to the infirmary right away like I probably should have, instead I made sure that Kyle and Star were being taken care of. Blair seemed to have become attached to them so I knew I didn't need to be worried about them being mistreated. By the time I finally did enter the medical room, it was deserted except for my patient and one med tech who glared at me. I began to check all of his vitals and fluid drips.

"I already did that." snapped the tech.

"I will check it again, humans are inefficient." I said, just to be mean. She huffed and stormed out of the room.

"That wasn't very nice of you." John said softly.

"I don't feel like being nice." I just shrugged, not looking at him but continuing with my checks. "You shouldn't even be allowed to be conscious yet." I was very unhappy about that.

"The Odessa I've come to know is always nice, and sweet, even when she is chained to a wall." I couldn't suppress the small laugh that escaped at his attempt at humor. When I stepped up beside him to check the IV in his arm, he reached over and took my hand. I finally looked him in the face.

"Thank you." he said softly. "Thank you for this." he put my hand against the bandages wrapped around his chest. I could only nod as tears welled up in my eyes again. He closed his eyes but didn't release my hand.

"Its what he wanted." I took my hand back and returned to checking his charts for the third time.

"You two were close?"

"He was like my brother."

"You were thrown into a unique situation." he closed his eyes again. He was so pale I was surprised he was able to stay conscious. "Tell me about it."

"I told you already, we woke up together in the mud. He was the only person I knew here in this place, time, I guess. He could have walked away and left me there but he didn't. After that, we didn't have any choice but to look out for one another, and Kyle and Star when we met them. I had no idea the world could be so dangerous. I'm from an upper middle class family, I had never been in a seriously dangerous situation until I woke up here. I had never even been in a fight in my whole life. Now, I've been shot at, attacked by some lonely, creepy men, dislocated someone's knee, been blown up, chased around by machines, broken someone's nose and preformed open heart surgery, not something that is usually asked of a someone straight out of medical school I hope you know!"

"You ramble." he muttered. I had heard that too often to still be offended by it.

"Often, I don't like silence so I tend to talk to much. You are the one who asked me to tell you about my what happened, you don't get to complain about the way I tell it!"

"I was expecting more of a story, less of a rambling list."

"I've never been very good at telling bedtime stories to my patients."

"You will have to tell it again sometime when I'm not an invalid."

"We will see." I rolled my eyes.

I left his bedside to hunt for bandage material. When I finally found what I was looking for, in the most impractical place ever, in the bottom most cabinet on the farthest side of the infirmary, I wondered briefly if someone hid them out of spite, just to make things difficult for me. I ignored that unpleasant thought and went about my business.

"Do you know any self defense?" he asked after watching my bandage hunt in silence."Why?" I didn't turn away from the counter where I was setting up the new bandages for his chest.

"You said you weren't used to dangerous situations and you've never been in a real fight. That implies that you can't protect yourself if you need to."

"No," I admitted after a bit of hesitation. "The only 'fight like' situation I have been in I was saved by Marcus and Blair. All I did was step on a guy's foot and kick out a kneecap to protect Marcus. I don't know anything about actual self defense. I am a doctor, not a solider."

"You at least have the right instincts. I was listening earlier to Kate set a couple of bones for the people who crossed you before and after my surgery. Besides, even doctors should know how to defend themselves, not just lash out when someone pisses you off."

"Even if I wanted to learn, there isn't anyone here who could teach me," I said softly. "I could seriously hurt someone without even meaning to. I'm not willing to take that risk." I shook my head, carrying the bandages over and began to cut the soiled ones off. I checked his stitches, slathering on some more anti-bacterial ointment on them to ward off infection. He was quiet while I redressed his wound, barley wincing when I put pressure on it even though I knew it must be killing him. He shouldn't even be awake but they were very low on pain medications here, even anesthesia is used sparingly.

"Get some rest John, you are going to need it, you have a long way to go." I said gently before turning to leave. My hand was caught again before I could even take a step. He didn't say anything for a second.

"I'm sorry about Marcus." he said finally. I gave him a small smile then hurried from the room to the bunk I had been given. I managed to close the door and lock it before my knees finally gave out and I barley landed on the edge of the bed. I couldn't hold the tears in anymore. I finally let myself really cry. When I was all cried out, I was laying on my back, staring up at a metal ceiling.


	15. Chapter 15

Sorry for the wait everyone! I couldn't decide whether or not I liked how this one came out but in the end I am pretty satisfied with it.

Its a little longer than usual so I hope you all enjoy it!

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year!

DDM

* * *

><p>I was trying hard to fully come to terms with my situation before facing everyone around me again. I felt I was doing rather well considering what I had been forced to go through since waking up. I had yet to have any major, public meltdowns, only minor freakouts. I sat up and stared at the wall of my room blankly, not really seeing it but trying to really processing everything I had experienced. It threatened to overwhelm me so I changed my mind and decided to start small.<p>

I noticed that there was a piece of slightly bent rebar sticking out about six inches from one wall. I walked over to it and ran my hand over it slowly. Wrapping one hand around the metal, I gave a light, experimental tug. Nothing happened. I tugged again, harder this time, there was a grinding noise and the rebar came out a couple more inches. I stepped back frowning, not at all happy that I had been able to make it move. I had been hoping that I would have been unable to make any noticeable change, like a normal person. That obviously wasn't the case anymore.

Irritated, I reached out and yanked the bar as hard as I could. The grinding noise was higher in pitch this time and accompanied by some sparks as the bar slid easily across the metal and stone of the wall. I glared at the metal in my hand. With an angry cry I grasped both ends of the bar and brought it down on my knee. It snapped cleanly in half.

"AH!" I screamed, throwing both halves away from me. They hit the wall so hard that they actually dented it, concrete crumbling to the ground. My knees gave out and as they hit the floor I burst into tears again because I realized that the other times that had happened lately, Marcus had been there to catch me. I don't know how long I sat there on the dirty floor, leaning cross legged against the wall, hands covering my face as I cried pathetically, but finally, I was struck by a painful thought.

What would Marcus think about the way I was behaving.

I'm sure he would understand my need to cry but he would probably be embarrassed to find out that I was throwing a temper tantrum and hiding from everyone in my room. I know full well that I can't stay in here forever and that I was most likely being childish but I couldn't help it.

I must have exhausted myself with my little meltdown and fallen asleep because I was woken with a start by someone knocking on my door. I thought about ignoring whoever it was but the knocking persisted so I forced myself to stand and face my visitor.

"Can we come in?" Kyle asked uncertainly when I just stared at him and Star blankly after opening the door.

"Of course!" I moved so they could enter and shut the door behind them. "Is everything okay?" I asked after we all sat on the bed.

Kyle sighed and Star crawled over to sit in my lap.

"What is wrong Kyle?" I asked gently.

"People are talking about you." He said finally, glancing down at my bandaged leg. It dawned on me that I had never shown either of them what my leg looked like. They both saw Marcus' metal hand before he passed but they have never seen anything about me that shows my machine status.

"Would you like to see it?" I asked.

He looked at me nervously before nodding. I shifted Star to one side and slowly unwrapped my leg. The metal and wires were all still visible, surrounded by a ring of charred flesh. While Kyle leaned in for a closer look at the mechanical bits, I inspected the wound itself. The flesh looked like it was on its way to start healing. It seems faster regeneration is one of my body's new skills. The skin, though burnt to a crisp was still blessedly clean and free of any kind of infection, something that made me very happy since the medical supplies here were few.

"Gross huh?" I said, looking down at Star. She didn't appear all that interested in my leg at all. She just wrinkled her nose at me and shrugged her little shoulders.

"So, you are a machine inside?" Kyle asked, sitting back now that he was done with his examination.

"Physically, a little more than half, according to Kate." I explained. "I have a human heart and brain but my skeleton is metal, some of my nervous system and most of my major organs are machines. I think its to make me more...durable. Weird right?"

"Actually its kind of cool!" Kyle said enthusiastically.

I laughed.

"How could you not know though?"

He didn't sound angry, only curious.

"I don't feel any different now than I did when I was still considered human so it never crossed my mind that anything was amiss." I shrugged.

"Not at all?"

"Not really. I retained my character as a person, all my old memories and feelings are still there. The only thing noticeably different is that I don't seem to feel pain as intensely as I used to. Its kind of muted." I stroked Star's bushy hair as she leaned against me.

"I died you know." I told them.

"What?" Both kids looked worried.

"Before I became a machine, when I was still human, I was having lunch with a friend and someone came right up and shot me in the chest. I died. The next thing I knew, I woke up in this time, Marcus and I both did."

"That's why you guys asked what year it was! I thought you were kidding when you didn't know what Skynet was!"

I shook my head.

"We weren't kidding at all!" I laughed. "Imagine our surprise when we came across L.A, looking like ancient ruins! You were the first person we met after waking up. We were looking for some answers and we found you...well technically I think you tackled us."

He laughed and Star smiled.

"Then you pointed a gun at us!"

"Sorry about that." he said, looking sheepish.

"Anything else you would like to know?" I asked after letting a comfortable silence envelop us.

"What are you considered?" he asked after a moment of thought.

"I don't understand the question."

"What kind of machine are you? What category do you fall into." he clarified.

"John said I am a Terminator but not what kind. Apparently, there haven't been any others besides Marcus who are like me."

"Are you strong like a regular Terminator?"

I gestured to the remains of the rebar I had freaked out on earlier

"I broke that over my knee.'

"Very cool!" he exclaimed, Star nodded.

"Kyle..." I hesitated. I wanted to ask the question that was burning on the tip of my tongue but I was worried that I wouldn't like the answer. "When you said people were talking about me...have they been talking to you, or just around you? Have they been bothering you?"

"Mostly people just talk in stage whispers around us. They haven't really given us any problems, they pretty much give us our space since..." trailed off.

"Since what?"

He looked down at his hands.

"Kyle?"

"When we first got here, some guy was bad mouthing you near us, I ended up yelling at him and Star kicked him in the shin." he snickered. "After that, someone called us machine lovers so people have been giving us a wide berth."

"Oh honey!" I pulled them both into a tight embrace. "I am so sorry!"

They hugged me back.

"Its not your fault." Kyle tried to reassure me. "We aren't really messed with, just kind of ignored. We lived alone in L.A for a long time so it doesn't really bother us."

"You are not alone anymore!" I said firmly. "I will always be here for you."

They hugged me tighter.

"We know." Kyle said, pulling away. "That's why we don't listen to..." he stopped quickly, looking away.

"Listen to who?" I asked.

"No one. Its nothing." he leaned back against the wall my bed was against. I moved Star and myself up next to him.

"Who don't you listen to Kyle?"

He still hesitated.

"Kyle, you can tell me. I am not going to be mad at you." I said gently.

"Its just Barns." he mumbled.

"What is he saying?"

"He...he just keeps telling us not to forget that you are made of metal. That we shouldn't let your outer package fool us and make us to comfortable because that is when you will strike. He is just trying to get us to doubt you."

I frowned. That jerk!

"Its not working!" he said hurriedly. "We don't listen to him."

"I know sweetie." I kissed the top of his head when he leaned it against my shoulder. "What about Blair? How has she been treating you?"

"Really well! She set us up with a bunk to share and she has been bringing us food and stays to talk with us."

"That's good." I said absently.

My thoughts were a fuming circle of anger and protectiveness. I can't believe Barns would say things like that to kids! Who did he think he was!

Kyle's stomach rumbled and he turned pink.

"Go get something to eat." I nudged him and shifted Star off my lap. "I have to go check on John."

We all stood but before I could move, both kids wrapped their arms around me.

"We love you Odessa, no matter what." Kyle said against my shoulder. I fought back tears, I was so touched.

"I love you guys too." I promised, kissing them both on the cheek. "Now, go get some food before you make me all weepy!"

They smiled at me and we parted ways at the door, going in opposite directions. The kids' hug had made me momentarily forget my anger toward Barns but the second I walked into the infirmary, it came back ten fold.

"You!" I growled through clenched teeth when my eyes landed on Barns sitting next to John. I must have looked as dangerous as I felt because as I advanced on him, Barns shot to his feet and placed one hand on the gun he had on his hip.

"What?" he demanded.

"How dare you!" I said angrily. "I could give a rats mangy ass what you think of me but I will not have you talking about it to my kids! You can say and think anything you want about me, whether to yourself or others..." I moved faster than I ever have before. Grabbing his gun by the barrel and yanking it out of his hand just as he took it from his holster. I held it out of his reach at my side.

"Odessa. Don't..." John's firm voice rang out beside us.

"Be quiet!" I snapped at him. He looked surprised. "This isn't about you!"

"I hate violence," I turned back to Barns who was glaring fiercely at me, casting glances at the weapon in my hand, probably trying to figure out whether or not he could take it back. "But if I ever hear of you trying to taint my kids with your hateful words, I _will_ hurt you!"

I wasn't very good at threatening people and it obviously showed because he just scoffed at me.

I clenched my fist around the metal in my hand, feeling it mold beneath my fingers as though it were made of play-dough.

"I will not have you alienating my kids! They have been through enough and they deserve to have a place they can feel safe and be happy! I will not let you ruin their chance of having that!" I was so angry I was nearly shaking.

"I am just trying to educate them." he sneered at me.

"I don't care what you call it!" I poked him hard in the chest with my free hand, pleased when he actually flinched. "If you have something nasty to say about me, say it to me and leave my kids out of this! Is that clear?"

He glared at me, staying silent. I stepped closer to him, right in his personal space, and stood on my tiptoes so we were literally almost nose to nose.

"Do I make myself clear?" I asked again, poking his harder to emphasize each word.

"Fine." he snarled.

"Good." I stepped back and held out his gun. He slowly reached out and took it from me, staring incredulously at the crumpled barrel. It was useless now but I felt it was worth it, he needed to understand what I could do without actually hurting him. I had to make him take my threat seriously.


	16. Chapter 16

Hey people! I know its been a while and I am sorry for that! The new semester has started and between that and working my time for writing is limited! I have a couple of days so I promise to have another chapter out before I have to go back to real life!

I want to say thank you for the people that reviewed and added my story! It means SO much to me!

I hope you all like this chapter! It has some medical action in it and is a little longer than my last so I hope you all enjoy it!

Lots of love

~!DDM!~

* * *

><p>There was something bordering on respect there when Barns finally looked me in the eye again. He glanced at John and scowled. I looked over and saw the injured man smirking, clearly amused.<p>

Barns sat down again, rubbing his chest where I had poked him. I hope it bruised! I abandoned the two men and headed to the end of John's bed to look over his charts, the new blue ink telling me Kate had already checked in on him earlier.

"What did you expect?" I heard John's quiet voice behind me. "You messed with a mama bear. They look cute and cuddly until you go near the cubs, then you get a harsh reminder that she has sharp teeth and claws."

He chuckled.

"Whatever." Barns snapped as he got up and stomped out of the room, still rubbing his chest. I ignore his exit.

"Your numbers are looking good." I told John. "Everything looks stable."

I leaned down to check the edges of his bandaging, taking slow deep breaths as I did so, trying to ward off the ache of loss that was trying to settle over my own heart now that I had alleviated my anger.

"No signs of infection, that's good. If you experience any abnormal pain, make sure to tell someone immediately." He nodded.

I glanced at the heart monitor, listening to the steady beep and was reminded of the times I had used Marcus' heartbeat to help relax me. Tears threatened to show themselves so I put the charts down and took a deep breath before speaking.

"Everything seems to be in fine, working order." my voice only broke slightly.

"Odessa..." John started, voice low.

"I am sure Kate will be in to check on you again in a while. You should rest until then. You need all the rest you can get if you want to ever get out of that bed."

The sentence was barley out of my mouth when I fled from the room. Running right back to my room, I slammed my door and slid down it to sit on the floor. I brought my knees to my chest, wrapping both arms around them.

"How am I supposed to do this on my own?" I asked the room.

Silence.

I crawled over to my bed and laid down on my back, staring, once again, up at the dingy ceiling.

How was I supposed to do this? I worked so hard to retain my calm but listening to Marcus' heart beat within John's chest was more difficult than I thought it would be. How was I to be a good doctor to him if every time his heart beats, mine ached.

I had to figure something out, I couldn't run forever. I had to face the fact that Marcus was gone and because of his sacrifice, John lived.

I sighed and rolled over onto my front. Resting my head against crossed arms.

I would do everything in my power to make sure that my brother's last act was not for nothing and I couldn't do that locked in my room.

I couldn't hide...for long.

But it wasn't unreasonable to give myself a couple of days alone to sort myself out. I decided to stop trying to analyze what had happened to me and just go with the flow from here on out.

Instead of the couple of quiet days I was looking for, I got closer to about half a day to myself before someone was pounding on my door like they were trying to break it down. I yanked it open and frowned at the man on the other side. I didn't recognize him.

"You the Machine Doctor?" he demanded

"That would be me."

"We need you in the infirmary." I sighed.

"Now!" he snapped when I didn't move fast enough for him.

"I beg your pardon?"

He clenched and unclenched his fists, glaring at me.

"Kate sent me to get you. She said to hurry." he said through teeth clenched tighter than his fists. There was something close to panic barley hidden beneath his surly exterior and that is what ultimately got me moving.

"What happened?" I asked as I hurried out after him. "Is it John?"

"No, it has nothing to do with Connor." he said over his shoulder and I felt a wave of relief wash over me. "A team came back from a recon mission. We got some bad Intel and they were surprised by a couple of Terminators acting as guards."

The closer we got to the medical room, the more clearly the sound of someone's screams became. When I finally got to the source, I saw Kate standing next to a cot, gloved hands covered in blood while a couple of men held her patient down by the shoulders, pinning his arms. He was thrashing, doing everything he could to free himself.

I quickly yanked a clean pair of gloves out of the box on the counter and pulled them on as I stepped up next to my fellow medic.

"What do we have?" I asked her, quickly scanning the man's leg, visible where his pants had been cut away.

"Three bullets to the leg." she pointed. "Here, here and here."

"Have they been extracted yet?"

"No, not yet. The bullets have migrated during travel and we have been having a hard time holding him...We need you to tap into you Terminator strength."

I hesitated, unsure if I could manage to hold the man still when two full grown men could hardly manage it. Even as I thought that, the image of me snapping the rebar like a stick popped into my mind and I was filled with determination.

"I will hold his leg," I told Kate. "You handle the extraction, then we will cauterize all three to prevent infection."

She hesitated for half a second before she hurried away then came back with a sterile pair of forceps and a metal tin. I moved to the opposite side of the cot.

"This one first." I placed my hands on the man's thigh, a few inches above and below the wound. She nodded and took a deep breath.

"Keep a good hold on him." I told the men at the patient's shoulders. "I can keep his leg from moving but this is going to hurt and we can't have him jerking around and making things worse for himself. One miss step and we could nick a nerve or artery and neither would end well for him."

They looked grim but determined.

"Kate?" she glanced up at me. "Go ahead."

I held the leg securely to the bed as she slid the instrument into the bullet hole, warm blood gushed over my hands but I held firm. The man gave a ragged howl and tried to get away. He was strong, his system being pumped full of adrenaline but one of his friends threw himself across his chest while another gripped his shoulders.

"Got it!" Kate dropped the bullet into the tin and we moved as one down his leg. The second and third bullet came out quicker than the first since they were in his calf and lower thigh instead of the meaty part of his upper thigh.

"What do you have to cauterize with?" I asked over the man's loud protests.

"Nothing." Kate admitted, looking upset. "We can only clean it and do our best to keep it that way until it starts to heal."

I frowned. If we didn't hurry, the man could lose sensation in his leg or even die from blood lose depending on how long he has been bleeding like this. Worse case, we would have to amputate it. I looked around the room, trying to think fast.

"Who here smokes?" I shouted as an idea came to mind. Two men in the little crowed off to one side raised their hands. "I need a lighter." I told them.

"And a knife!" I demanded

One man stepped forward and handed me a decent sized hunting knife while another handed me a flip lighter. I quickly took out the pin that held the forceps together, making them into two separate metal rods and clicked open the lighter producing a healthy flame. I took one half of the still bloody, dismantled forceps and held it over the flickering light until it were glowing with heat.

"Hold him down!" the two men who lent me their possessions joined the two already holding my patient down. I held the metal rod over the flame a second longer then quickly plunged it into the first bullet wound.

Screams and the smell of burning flesh dominated the room. I removed the implement, reheated it and quickly cauterized the other two wounds. I then picked up the knife and held it over the flame. The wounds would no longer bleed but they needed to be closed on the surface as well to prevent bacteria from getting into them and causing any deadly infections. When the knife was glowing, I pressed it, flat side down over each bullet would, fusing the first few layers of flesh together. The man passed out some time during the second hole so we didn't have to deal with much protesting as we cleaned his leg, applying a thick coating of antibacterial ointment to the burns then covering them with bandages.

"You think good on your feet." the man who had given me his knife said when I returned it.

"I wouldn't be a very good doctor if I didn't." I smiled at him. "When you freeze up under pressure and hesitate, people can die. I am just happy that bullet didn't hit the artery in his leg!"

"He will be okay?" another asked.

"He should be just fine." I assured him.

Then men began to trickle out after that, no longer riveted by our little drama and I began washing my hands.

"That was some impressive work." Kate said when I moved over so she could use the sink with me.

"Thanks, you to." I dried my hands. "You have a really steady hand."

We both turned when the unconscious man groaned.

"I will stay with him." I said. "Go get off your feet. I will have someone come find you if there is an emergency."

She gave me a small, grateful smile and touched my arm before waddling out the door. I went over to the infirmary's newest resident and put my hand against his forehead, checking his temperature. A high fever would be the first indicator of an infection. I was so paranoid about people getting infections because of the low supply of medicine. I didn't think that we would be able to save someone if they were in the late stages of the sickness so it was best to catch them early.

"He going to be alright?" John asked from behind me.

"I think so." I nodded slowly. "We will have to keep him here for a little while just to make sure there are no unseen complications, but I think that I negated most problems by cauterizing the wound from the start."

"That's the second life you have saved here. That was some fast thinking. We don't have the best equipment but you work well with what you have."

I smiled at his compliment. The man groaned again and I could tell he was coming around.

"What is his name?" I asked John.

"Chambers."

I rolled my eyes. What was it with these people all being on a last name only basis!

"First name?"

"Uh..." I turned to frown at him when he had to think about it. "Mike. Mike Chambers."

"Mike?" I touched his cheek. "Mike can you here me?"

His eyes fluttered as he turned his head, trying to focus on my face. When he finally was able to keep them open I saw they were a pretty hazel color, sadly though, they were filled with pain.

"Welcome back." I said gently, not wanting to startle him. His head rolled from one side to the other as he groaned, obviously in a lot of pain.

"Mike? Mike I need you to focus on me." I touched his cheek again and his head lulled in my direction. "I need you to focus Mike."

"You are pretty..." he mumbled at me, eyes slightly unfocused but trained on my face. I flushed and ignored the disgruntled noise from the cot behind me.

"Can you tell me how you are feeling?" I asked as his eyes slid further into focus.

"Did you cut it off?" he asked miserably. "It feels like you cut it off."

"Don't be so dramatic Chambers." John snapped. I glared at him over my shoulder.

"Connor?" Mike looked around, trying to determine John's position so I moved out of the way so they could look at each other. "What happened?"

John nodded at me.

"She saved your leg, and your life." he said.

Mike turned his gaze back on me, eyes wide and I blushed and looked away.

"You saved me?" he asked.

"Yeah she did." John said, sounding almost proud.

"Kate and some of the men helped." I said quickly.

"They just held him down." John said dismissively. "Without your quick thinking, he could have lost that leg and possibly died in the process."

I scowled at him and opened my mouth to tell him off when a hand taking hold of mine captured my attention.

"Thank you." Mike said seriously, squeezing my hand. I smiled at him.


	17. Chapter 17

As promised, another chapter! It will be a while before I can get another one out since I am going to attempt to pay proper attention to my school work!

Lots of love and special thanks to **atsik101 **for the review!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

~!DDM!~

* * *

><p>"You are very welcome. How are you feeling?"<p>

"My leg hurts." he laughed.

"I am sorry about that. I wish I could do something about the pain." I sighed.

"Nah, we are tough around here." Mike said. "No need for pain killers."

"They will scar." I warned him. "There just wasn't any way around that."

"That's okay," he shifted and winced. "I will just add them to my collection."

He slowly sat up, groaning the whole way and refusing to let me help him at all.

"I can see you didn't cut it off, but it still feels like it." he mumbled. I felt panic rise up in me.

"What do you mean?" I demanded. "Can you not feel your leg? Is it numb?"

"I...I don't think so." he said. "It just really hurts."

I moved down to the end of the bed, standing beside his injured leg. I reached out and lightly touched his leg with the tips of my fingers.

"Can you feel that?"

"No."

I pressed harder.

"How about that?"

He shook his head and I started to get really nervous. I placed my hand on his knee, about half way between the wound on his lower thigh and his calf and added more pressure.

"OW!" he shouted. "Ow, I feel that!"

I sighed in relief and smiled. If he could feel the increase in pain, he still had full sensation in his leg. I would continue to run tests as he healed just to make sure everything was as it should be.

"I yell, and you smile." Mike shook his head. "Such a weird chick."

I laughed.

"I am smiling because your screaming means you can still feel your leg. I would be more worried if you didn't scream at all! The pain you are feeling numbs the limb some because your nerves can only take so much before they more or less go into shock, as long as the rest of you doesn't follow you are okay."

"Can I leave?" he asked.

"So eager to get away from me?" I asked, half teasing.

"Nah, I don't mind having beautiful women taking care of me," I blushed and the man behind me made another noise of discontent, Mike and I both turned to look at him. Mike shifted uncomfortably when he caught sight of the dark glare John was sending his way.

"Besides," he said quickly, "I don't want to take up a bed when there might be other people who actually need to use it."

I frowned at John for a second longer before turning to direct it toward the patient attempting to escape the nasty looks leveled on him.

"You can leave on one condition." I said finally.

"Which is?"

"You may leave, if and only if, you can walk on your own." I crossed my arms.

The look of determination on Mike's face was admirable. Everyone around here really had a true sense of the word when faced with a challenge. I hope one day I gain that trait as strongly as everyone here has.

Mike winced as he sat up away from his pillows but didn't make any noise. He swung both legs off the side of his cot and managed to suppress all but a small gasp of pain. He forced himself to his feet and swayed dangerously but held a hand out to stop me when I took a step forward, ready to move in and steady him. I took a step back against John's cot and felt his hand brush against mine. I looked down at him but he wasn't looking at me, he was watching Mike as the man took his first shaky step, something akin to pride on his face. He truly did love his people.

Mike threw me a smile over his shoulder and slowly made his way to the door, one slow step at a time, each more sturdy than the last.

"Mike," the man stood proudly in the doorway. "I want you to come back in a couple of days so I can take a look at that leg."

"Will do." He smiled one more time before walking out of view, the only sign of his pain was a slight limp in his gait. I can't believe he had the will power to walk when just minutes ago he was complaining that his leg felt like it had been chopped off.

"Wow." I said softly.

"There is nothing like human will power." John said. "That is how we have survived as long as we have. Sheer will power."

I sat on the end of his cot and shook my head, still feeling slightly awed. I then turned to John, frowning at him.

"What?" he asked.

"You were very rude to Mike." I admonished.

"I was not. I didn't even really say anything to him."

"You didn't have to say anything, that's how rude you were, you didn't even need words!"

He rolled his eyes at me.

"He started it." he claimed. It was my turn to roll my eyes.

"Oh do tell, how did he start it?" I laughed.

John scowled at me and attempted to cross his arms but winced and settled for resting them on his stomach.

"It's a guy thing." he said simply.

"A guy thing?" I asked dubiously.

"Yes." I must have still looked skeptical because he rolled his eyes and continued. "Chambers understood, he didn't think I was being rude, he just got what I was trying to tell him without words."

"Which was?"

Seeing I wasn't going to let it go he gave a resigned sigh and looked me directly in the eye.

"He can look at you and think you are beautiful all he wants," he started and I could feel myself beginning to blush. "But all he is allowed to do is look."

I felt the color rise all the way up my face, turning the whole thing red as John's meaning occurred to me. His nasty looks when Mike had called me beautiful, they were his caveman way of marking his territory and warning Mike to back off. I thought back to Mike's instant understanding and hasty exit and wondered how I had remained oblivious to the silent conversation that had been occurring around me.

I stood, blushing and flustered, as John chuckled.

"I...I have to...I have to go." I said finally, hurrying from the room while John continued to laugh to himself.

I walked down the hall, unsure of my destination, and not really knowing my way around other than from my room to the infirmary. The few people I passed gave me nasty looks but I ignored them. Eventually I found myself in a room that seemed to act as a community lounge. There were a few card tables with folding chairs and a few couches that had seen better days. There were maybe a dozen people occupying the room and conversation died out the second I stepped over the threshold. I was prepared to just turn and leave, not wanting to cause trouble when a shout caught my attention.

"Hey! Hey, doc who saved my life, come over here!" I smiled as I caught sight of Mike sitting on one of the tattered couches, waving has arm in the air. I picked my way through the mismatched furniture and glaring people to stand if front of my new acquaintance.

"Long time no see." he smiled at me.

"Far to long." I smiled back.

"Guys, this is...ah...sorry," he turned back to me. "I never got your name."

I flushed.

"How rude of me! I'm Odessa." I held out my hand, and Mike shook it while he laughed.

"Nice to meet you!"

"Guys, this is Odessa." I looked at the two people he was sitting with, one was glaring at me like most of the people in the room, the other I recognized and thankfully he wasn't joining in the glaring.

"Nice to see you again." I said politely.

"You too." the man who had loaned me his hunting knife smiled at me. "I am Nicky by the way."

"Sit with us." Mike said. I hesitated when the other man on the couch scoffed and crossed his arms.

"Problem Jerry?" Nicky asked.

"You have got to be kidding!" the man, now Jerry, said angrily. "Of course there is a problem! Its standing right there!" he gestured to me.

"You know how we fix that problem?" Mike asked, turning to frown at Jerry.

"I could think of a few ways." Jerry sneered at me and I took as step back. Mike reached out and caught my hand.

"Odessa, why don't you take Jerry's seat since he is leaving." Mike said firmly.

"Oh, no really, I'll just..." I tired to stop the situation before it started.

"You'll just sit right there." Nicky gave Jerry a shove to the man next to him, who was busy doing an impressive impersonation of a fish out of water. Finally he stood, Nicky giving him a not so gentle shove of incentive and I was tugged down into the vacant seat between Nicky and Mike. I kept my gaze down on my hands folded in my lap as not so quiet whispers filled the room. I tired my absolute best to ignore them but some rather nasty ones had me wishing I never entered the room.

"So, Nicky, how do you know my guardian angel here?" I flushed.

"I leant this pretty lady a knife."

"For what?"

"She went all MacGyver to save your sorry hide."

"Hardly!" I interjected. "I simply improvised."

"That's kinda of what he is known for Odessa." Nicky smirked.

"You lost me." Mike said.

"I needed something to cauterize your bullet holes with since you don't have the proper equipment, so Nicky leant me his knife and someone else handed over a lighter."

"You used a hot knife to seal this mess?" Mike asked, gesturing to his bandaged leg.

"I had to do something!" I said indigently. "Would you rather I went with our other option of cleaning it and hoping for the best?"

Both men laughed.

"I am not scolding you, relax." Mike laughed. "I am impressed."

"Where did you learn to be a medic?" Nicky asked.

"I went to medical school."

They both looked pretty skeptical.

"There haven't been medical schools around for years." Mike said.

"I know." I shifted uncomfortably.

"So how did you go to one if they haven't existed?" Nicky asked.

"I went to one when they _did _exist."

"You don't look that old. Only people about twenty years your senior could have gone to medical school."

"I don't know what to tell you?" I shrugged.

"How about the truth." Mike laughed.

"I am telling you the truth, I graduated top 10% of my class in..." I broke off.

"In what?" Nicky asked.

"In..." I mumbled the year unintelligibly.

"What?" Mike asked. I did the same thing again.

"Come on, speak up?" Nicky teased.

"In 2004 ok!" I said loudly.

The room, which had gone back to its quiet hum of conversation when silent once again.

"You're kidding." Mike said.

"I am not! Before I became the way I am now, I was a medical student, well, I had just graduated."

"In 2004..." Nicky said slowly.

"Yes."

"So you are older than you look."

"Apparently. Though Marcus said that he doesn't...didn't think that the years that we were technically dead should count." Correcting myself about Marcus really hurt.

"Dead huh?" Mike asked.

"How she should have stayed!" Shouted a voice from across the room.


	18. Chapter 18

Hey guys! SO SORRY this took so long to get out! I started two new jobs and quit another one so things have been a little hectic on my end!

I hope you guys like this chapter! Another one will be out much faster than it took this one! PROMISE!

Thanks for sticking with me!

~!DDM!~

* * *

><p>"Back off!" Mike shouted at a man sitting at one of the card tables, obviously having recognized the voice. "She saved my life and Connor's too, show some respect!"<p>

I was pleasantly surprised that he spoke up.

"Machine lover." the man snarked back at him. Mike tried to rise but groaned with a hand on his bad leg. Nicky and I both put hands on his shoulders to stop him from attempting it again. I was scolding him when a familiar voice called my name. I looked up in time to see Kyle who was hurrying toward me go flying as the rude man at the table stuck out a foot and tripped him. The room went silent once again as I shot to my feet.

"Kyle!" I said worriedly as he hit the ground. He grunted in pain as I helped him to his feet.

"Leave him." the man sneered. "He should get used to a Machine Lovers place, beneath everyone else."

I turned and punched the man square in the face. I heard the crunch and knew I had broken his nose but I didn't care. I had been carful not to hit him as hard as I could because I knew that with my new strength I could have done a lot more damage.

As the man cursed loudly, hands covering his face, I summoned up all my courage and addressed the entire room.

"I want to make one thing explicitly clear." I said. "I don't give a damn what you think of me, but if anyone ever gets the idea to punish one of my kids for their association with me, they will get more than a broken nose!"

No one said anything as I grabbed Kyle by the sleeve and towed him out of the room behind me. He was quiet until we were several halls away before he started to pull back. I rounded on him with a frown only to be engulfed in a hug. I hugged him back, pulling him tightly to me.

"Thank you." I said against my shoulder.

"Don't worry about it." I said gently. "I won't let anyone mistreat you."

He pulled back and smiled at me.

"You better tell me if anyone tries to do anything to you again. Do you understand me."

"I will, promise."

"Where is Star?" I asked when we started moving down the hallway again.

"We spilt up so we could both look for you. I told her to meet me in the kitchen if she didn't find you in five minutes so she should be there."

"Ok, first I want to check in on John."

Back to my happy place once again. I was beginning to spend a great deal of time there, not that I minded at all. Being there made me feel very in control and calm. When I poked my head in to take a look, John was sleeping and all his machines were up and running so we quietly turned around and left.

We didn't see many people on the way to the kitchen and the ones we did ignored us so we did the same to them. The kitchen was very much like I had pictured it, messy, cluttered and smelling of cooked food. Star was sitting on one of the counters nibbling on a piece of bread when we spotted her. She smiled and waved then went back to munching happily on her treat.

"So, you are the one Kyle has been on about, the machine." A gruff female voice said from behind a cloud of steam. When the owner of the voice finally appeared I had to look down in order to look her in the face. She was extremely short, somewhere between fifty and fifty five years old, with muddy brown hair and eyes, her face splotched with flour and who knows what other kinds of food.

"I am Erma." she held out a stubby fingered hand for me to shake and I did so while politely introducing myself.

"Odessa."

"I know your name girl, talk of the whole base aren't you!" she bustled past us into what I would assume would be a pantry of some kind. Kyle tugged me over to stand near Star. Erma came out of the little room and picked up right where she left off as though there hadn't been a pause in the conversation.

"All sorts of talk about the machine woman who doctored up the Connor boy, always getting into mischief that one." I giggled at the picture that conjured of a young John running around Erma getting into trouble. "Course, we all respect the hell out of him, done a lot of good. You saved his life right?"

It took me a second to realize she had suddenly included me in her conversation.

"Yes ma'am."

"Then your all good in my book girl. I know some people don't like you but you just got to remember that you can't please everyone all the time. And to the people who are never happy with you, well you tell them Erma says they can go shit in a hat!"

She caught me so totally off guard with her comment that I burst out laughing. I laughed so hard I had to hold on to Kyle to stay upright.

"I will do that Miss Erma." I giggled.

"Good! And I dare them to come say something to me cause I will tell them exactly where they can find that hat!"

We stayed with Erma for a while, just enjoying watching her bustle around the kitchen. There was hardly a quiet moment, she kept up a steady stream of one sided conversation, never seeming to need input from any of us. It was somehow very comforting, watching her cary out her routine.

I must have drifted off into my own world because I suddenly jumped when I realized Erma was standing in front of me, hands on her hips looking expectant.

"I'm sorry?" I asked self-consciously.

"I asked if you had ever done it before, girl."

"Uh...done what?"

She shook her head, a small playful smile on her heavily lined face.

"You weren't listening to me where you girl?"

"I apologize, Miss Erma. Could you please repeat that for me."

"So polite," she shook her head again. "Rare around here." She mumbled then turned back to the huge pot she had been tossing things in. I looked around and realized that the kids had at some point abandoned me here while I was off in my own head.

"I asked you if you have ever delivered a babe before."

"No, ma'am, I have not. Why do you ask?"

"You will have to deliver one soon, Kate is bound to pop any moment! I am sure you will be the one she will want to help her through it." I hadn't thought about that. "You have been proving your worth since you showed up here, girl. Can't start letting people down now."

She was right. It would be an honor if Kate wanted me to help deliver her and Barns' baby, though I could see him having an issue with it. If she did want my help, I wasn't going to shrug and tell her I couldn't do anything because I didn't have the knowledge. I needed to figure out how to rectify the situation.

"Does anyone ever go into the near by cities?" I asked her as a thought occurred to me.

"Sure they do. Need to salvage anything still useable don't we."

"Thank you, Miss Erma, I promise not to let anyone down!" I hurried from the room and went on the hunt for the last person I thought I would ever actively seek out. I finally found him after about ten minutes of searching. He was carrying a large keg of some kind on one shoulder, following another man carrying something similar.

"Barns!" I shouted, causing several people in the hall to stop and stare at me. I ignored them as best I could as I hurried after the man. The tensing in his shoulders told me he had heard me but he didn't even glance my way. I jogged after him as he rounded a corner, still ignoring me.

"Barns!" I was right behind him now but he had still yet to acknowledge my presence. I followed him, barely half a step behind him until he reached his destination and put his keg down. I waited expectantly as he turned but felt my frustration peak when he attempted to step around me without even looking at me.

"Don't be childish Barns! Its important!" he

He finally looked at me when he realized I wasn't going to just go away.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

"I want to go to join the next group that goes to the city."

He just laughed and tried to step around me again but I put both hands against his chest and planted myself, refusing to let him move.

"I really need to go, Barns! I know you can get them to take me!"

"No." he glared down at me.

"But..."

"No, Connor would flip." He crossed his arms and looked down his nose at me as I blushed lightly. But I was determined to get my way.

"I really, really need to go to the city!"

"Why?" he demanded.

"The baby will be here soon! I am a good medic but I studied to be a trauma surgeon, not a midwife. I want to be able to help, even if it is just in the back round." I could see him wavering. "I want to find a bookstore and pick up a few things so I can at least brush up on some theory behind childbirth. I want to be useful!"

"Fine, I will get you in with the next team, on one condition." he said after glaring at me for a moment.

"Name it!"

"You don't tell Connor about your field trip until _after_ you come back."

"Deal!" I promised instantly. I was pretty sure John would be less than thrilled with me leaving to go to the city.

"The next team leaves in twenty minutes. Follow me." he turned on his heel and strode away, I hurried after him, extremely excited to put my idea into practice. I knew, most likely, whoever was head of the excursion I was crashing was going to be none to pleased to have me as a guest. As we neared a group of about ten men, strapping on various weapons, they to greet Barns.

"Hey, Barns, you coming with us?" one man asked.

"Nope, she is." he pointed at me and I stepped out from behind him. There were several groans and some nasty looks until one man stepped forward. I recognized him instantly.

"Nicky!"

"Hey, Odessa, what you need to go to the city for?" he asked curiously.

"I need some books on At-Home-Birthing."

Some of the nasty looks vanished and became more neutral.

"She isn't going." snapped the voice of a man who had obviously been a smoker for a very long time. "No way Barns."

The man broke off from the rest of the group, dressed just like them in military attire but was quite a few years everyone's senior.

"Yes she is Marks." Barns looked at the older man, clearly unimpressed.

"We don't have anyone to spare that can be her shadow. Besides, we can't let her out of the base, what if she meets up with a machine and leads them back here!"

I gasped, instantly upset and highly offended.

"No way Marks!" Nicky said loudly. "Don't even go there man, she has already proved she is on our side."

"Could still be a trick." the smoker snapped.

"Enough," Barns cut them both short. "She is going, Marks, and thats final. I don't care what you think, she is going so get the hell over it." he turned and left without another word.

"Don't worry Odessa, I will go with you, just stick with me." Nicky said as the others began to make their way through a tunnel that lead to the surface. We reached the mine field and I hesitated, remembering the magnets beneath the surface of the sand.

"What's wrong?" Nicky asked, seeing my uncertainty.

"I played with those magnets once already, I have no desire of a repeat performance."

"You will be alright. They aren't active, haven't been since Blair broke your friend out. We are just going to go to the trucks." he pointed to a couple beat up but heavily armored trucks not thirty feet from us, the others already climbing in.


	19. Chapter 19

Hey guys! New chapter, ready to rock and roll! Hope you guys like this one, a little more action than there has been lately. I am happy it is out so fast! Already working on the next one!

Hope you like it!

~!DDM!~

* * *

><p>It didn't take long to reach they city, I never even bothered asking which one it is, as long as it had a bookstore I could care less. Everyone vacated the trucks and stood in a circle while Marks barked out orders.<p>

"And you," he turned to glare at me after giving the men their assignments. "You have thirty minutes to get what you need and get back here. Nicky will go with you. If you aren't back in that time and we are ready to leave, you will be shit out of luck. You understand?"

"I got it!" I turned to Nicky expectantly after Marks stomped off. "You know where the bookstore is?" I asked hopefully.

"Yeah, come on. Thirty minutes should be plenty of time."

I followed Nicky as he broke into a jog, continuing for about three blocks, I was never once out of breath, until we came upon what used to be a Barns & Noble. I could clearly see that it was still full of books so I was optimistic about my chances of finding what I was looking for. We hurried in and I quickly took the stairs of the frozen escalator when I saw the 'Family Wellness' section. I began picking every book off the shelf I could find that dealt with pregnancy in every stage. Nicky surprised me by taking the books form me and stuffing them into a large duffle he had with him. I finally found the small section I was most eager about, Midwifing. I took every book they had on the subject before hurrying off to the kids section, snatching classics I had read for every reading level. I heard Nicky struggling with the bag behind me, it got heavier and heavier as I added more books. Once I was satisfied for them moment I turned and made my way back to the first floor, Nicky struggling behind me. I finally took pity on him and reached out for the duffle.

"I will carry it." I offered. He looked at me skeptically.

"If I can't carry this thing, there is no way in hell you can carry it."

"Just give it here."

I rolled my eyes at him and easily took the bag from him, throwing it over my shoulder and heading for the door.

"That is so wrong." he grumbled teasingly behind me as we made our way back to the trucks.

"Don't be jealous." I teased right back as we left the store.

I threw the bag in the back of the truck once we reached it. No one was back yet so we could do nothing but wait patiently. That is, until we heard shouting and gun shots coming from a few blocks away. Nicky and I exchanged glances before I jumped into the drivers seat of the truck and he jumped in the back, and took off in the direction of the sound. I was so glad someone had been thoughtful enough to leave the keys in the ignition. I took the corner on two wheels, Nicky cussing up a storm behind me as he held on.

I could see them now, six out of the nine guys we had split from were taking cover behind a slab of concrete, firing over it at two terminators standing in the middle of the street. The terminators were the same kind Marcus and I had encountered in LA. They were huge and wearing tattered pants and boots. They even had the same huge guns as the one that had fired on us, only they was using theirs to pin the guys in their position. Fear gripped me before it transformed into anger as I looked at the scene.

"Get down and hold on!" I shouted, hearing Nicky's cussing get louder as I pushed the gas peddle all the way to the floor as the terminators turned toward us and fired on the truck. I hit the first terminator hard, causing it to go careening into its fellow, knocking them both quite a ways down the street. I smiled, supremely pleased with myself as they flew down the street.

"Get in!" I shouted at the stunned men who were all peeking over their cover at me with wide eyes. "Move it!" I demanded. The terminators were attempting to get back to their feet and Nicky was firing at them with his gun, out the back window, trying to provide at least a little cover. Finally getting their wits back, the men all vaulted the slab and threw themselves at the tuck, climbing haphazardly into the back. I threw the truck into reverse, stomped on the gas pedal and looked out the back window for a guide. Nearly reaching the end of the street I hit the brake and, spinning the wheel as hard as I could, turned the truck the right way around, feeling the entire thing lean dangerously to one side as I did so. Bullets hit the side of the truck and the guys all ducked as more cussing ensued. Once again I took the corner on two wheels and floored it back in the direction of the base.

"Everyone ok?" I asked as I slowed down.

"We lost a couple." someone said sadly behind me.

"Where did you learn to drive like that?" one of the men asked as he climbed over the consul and into the passenger seat.

"I have no idea! I saw it in a movie once." they all laughed, albeit a little shakily. Everyone was quiet on the way back to the base, I knew someone would have to go retrieve to other truck and hopefully the bodies of those who had fallen. When I finally parked the truck back where it started we all piled out, several of the guys band together to carry my bag of books down the tunnel for me. It dawned on me that I didn't know what they went into the city for or whether they reached their goal or not. I hope they did, so that their friends didn't die for nothing.

"Where do you want this?" one of the men holding my bag of goodies.

"Uh, my room is fine I guess." they just looked at me. "I will show you where it is!"

I thanked Nicky for all his help and gave him a quick hug before going down the only hall I recognized among the many branching off from the chamber we were in, my helpers followed close behind.

We reached my room and I opened the door to find Kyle and Star both sitting on my bed. It looked like they were playing some kind of card game. They both looked up and beamed at me, casting confused looks at my entourage.

"Just put it there please." I gestured to the table I had off to one side. They hefted the bag up with grunts of effort and turned toward the door. I was just going to join the kids when one of the guys stopped me.

"Hey, uh...Odessa?"

I turned, surprised to have been spoken to. Most people just ignored the fact that I existed.

"Yes?" I asked curiously.

"I just wanted to say thank you." he said. "For saving us back in the city. If you hadn't shown up when you did, those terminators would have mowed us down like we were nothing."

"Oh! You're...you're welcome!" I said, thrown totally off guard. The man smiled at me. He had a nice smile that lit up his dark blue eyes. He couldn't have been much older than I was when I died, very handsome in an aristocratic kind of way. I found myself comparing his brand of handsome to John's and found him rather lacking. I liked John's more, rugged handsome better.

"I...uh...I was also thinking..." I frowned and turned back to face him when I realized he hadn't left after he expressed his gratitude.

"Yes?"

He went a little red in the face and scratched the back of his neck nervously, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"I am sorry." I said, trying to relieve some of his discomfort. "I don't know your name."

"James, my name is James." the redness spread all the way up to his ears but he seemed to gain a little more confidence. "I was wondering if you wanted to sit with me sometime at dinner."

Oh!

I felt my own face start to go pink as I realized I was being asked out. It wasn't a conventional date, but we were in an unconventional place.

"Um..." I was unsure what to say.

"She can't!" I jumped when Kyle showed up on my right.

"Kyle!" I was surprised by the way he was glaring at James. "Kyle don't be rude."

"We don't know him." Kyle said in a stage whisper as he frowned at me, looking suspiciously at James.

"I am sorry James." I said, embarrassed by Kyle behavior.

"That's alright, maybe another time, doesn't have to be dinner. We could just hang out sometime." James said quickly, looking at Kyle cautiously.

"That would be nice." I smiled at him.

"Great, uh, I guess I will see you around."

I nodded and continued to smile until he was gone, then I rounded on Kyle.

"You didn't have to be so rude to him Kyle." I scolded.

"He didn't have the right to just ask you out like that!" he nearly shouted at me.

"Like what?"

"Like he knows you! Like he hasn't been joining in with the people gossiping about you! I have seen him!"

So that is why he is so mad.

"I have seen him with that guy Marks! He is a nasty piece of work! You can't trust someone who hangs around with people like that!"

"Calm down Kyle. I have already met Marks. He was in the group that I went to the city with." I wondered if he would take the bait.

"Wait...you went to the city?"

Hook!

"When?"

Line!

"Why?"

And Sinker!

"We just got back, thats why those guys were helping me! Come look what I picked up!"

I hurried over to the duffle and unzipped it to show the two kids.

"You both know how to read, right?" I asked.

"Of course!" Kyle nodded, picking up Charlotte's Web that was sitting on top of the pile. Star nodded emphatically.

"Good! I got you guys some book, and a few for me."

We began unloading the bag, putting the books into piles, one for me and one for them. Spines out so we can read the titles. When we were finished organizing I told the kids to pick on so we could read together. I wanted this to become a regular thing with us, sitting and reading together. Star chose the copy of 'Arabian Nights' I had picked up and we all climbed onto the bed and made ourselves comfortable.

We were three stories into the book when someone knocked on my door. I laid the book open on my knee as Kyle hurried up to answer the door. One the other side of the door stood a man looking very uncomfortable.

"Yes?" I dogeared the page we were on, cringing as I did so, I would rather have a real bookmark but I had to make due.

"Connor wants to see you." the messenger said stiffly.

"Oh...now?"

"He said I was to escort you and not come back until I had you with me. He is...mad."

I slid off the bed with a sigh and handed the book to Kyle.

"You two are free to sit in here as long as you want. Help yourselves to the books I got for you! I will see you later." I got a quick hug from both before following my escort down the hall.

"You said he seems mad?" I asked quietly.

"Yep." was the simple answer I got.

"How mad?"

"Real mad."

"Do you know why?"

"Nope."

Looks like I wasn't getting any information out of this guy. We were silent the rest of the way. When he entered the infirmary I peeked around the doorframe to gage the atmosphere in the room. I let out an embarrassing 'eep' sound when I found John staring right at me, a glaring Barns next to him, arms crossed. I stepped into the room, bright smile firmly in place.

"Hey!" I said as I picked up John's charts out of habit.

"Put it down Odessa." John said shortly. Surprised, I did as I was told.

"Is there something wrong John?" I asked carefully.


	20. Chapter 20

Hey all! Finally had a moment to myself(been busy for my birthday weekend!) to sit down and type up this chapter! I hope you all like it! I am pretty happy with the way this story is going so let me know what you think!

Happy reading!

~!DDM!~

* * *

><p>"Is there something wrong?" a crease appeared between his eyes. "How was your trip to the city?"<p>

"Oh..." I hesitated. "Um...it went well."

"So I hear."

I glanced at Bars who was still glaring at me.

"What?" I demanded.

"You just attract trouble don't you." he snapped.

"Hey!" I huffed in indignation. "I was with Nicky the whole time! We were minding our own business, waiting for the others to get back when we heard the racket they were making and found them partying with a couple of Terminators!"

"The men say you came around the corner so fast you nearly tipped the truck and crashed headlong into the Terminators that were pinning them down." John said, frowning heavily at me.

"It did not almost tip over! It was only on two wheels for a few seconds!" I defended. He didn't seem anymore pleased.

"And running into the machines?" he demanded.

"Well, yeah, that part is true. But what was I supposed to do! I couldn't just pull up beside then and politely ask them to put down their guns and leave the men alone!"

"They said you had some fancy driving skills." Barns said gruffly. "Said you backed down the street at full speed and whipped the truck around before driving off back to base."

"Okay, that time, it was pure luck I didn't tip the truck over! I am a decent driver and I knew the physics behind the maneuver but I had only ever seen it done in the movies! I still can't believe I pulled it off!"

Barns had to cough into his fist to keep from laughing while John looked around and glared daggers at him.

"I don't see what all the fuss is about!" I said. "What I did helped those men, thats all that matters."

"The fuss? The fuss is that you could have been killed, that's the god damned fuss!" John snapped, the machine monitoring his heart rate spiked and I glared at him.

"The men were the ones who could have died! When I heard the commotion going on I couldn't just shrug my shoulders and tell Nicky 'C'est la vie!' I wasn't going to abandon them when we were the only ones in a position to help!"

"He should't have just jumped in on your little rescue mission!" John argued. "Wait till I..."

"John Connor! You will not bring Nicky down here to scold him like you are trying to do to me!" I actually stomped my foot. He was being so stubborn.

John was still looking mulish so I decided to take the conversation in a direction that would surely distract him and hopefully get him to cool off a little so we didn't end up just screaming at one another.

I took a deep breath before speaking.

"How many did they lose?" I asked softly.

"Three." Barns sighed.

"You will be going to collect them, right?"

Both men glanced at one another.

"You can't leave them there! They deserve more than that!"

"Some one will go get the bodies in the next couple of days. We can't risk going back to soon." John said gently as he was capable.

"Good!"

"You won't be going with them." he said firmly this time. "What you did was reckless..."

"John! What I did was necessary! I didn't plan it you know! All I wanted to do was pick up some books and be back as soon as possible! I didn't go looking for trouble! I am not even the one it came looking for this time! I am a big girl and I don't need to ask your permission to do what I feel is right!"

So much for cooling off...now I was mad all over again.

I turned on my heel and left without a backward glance. How dare he chastise me like a child! If I hadn't chosen to act when I did those men would have died! I refuse to let him make me feel guilty. If given the choice, I would pick the same one every time.

I went right back to my room, finding it empty, and went right to the table of books. I picked up the one on the top of the pile labeled 'Childbirth: The Home Guide to Being A Midwife'.

I laid down on my stomach and greedily drank in all the information to book had to offer. I was surprised how quickly I went through the book, finishing all four hundred paged what I was guessing was only a couple of hours. I need to get a clock or a watch. I wondered, as I put the book down, if maybe what Skynet did to me, not only enhanced me physically, but mentally as well. Even in school I don't remember being able to get through a book so quickly, let alone actually retain almost all of what I read. I was eager to start another book but was interrupted my a knock at my door.

I should have known it wouldn't last, I am surprised I managed to get through a whole book without someone needing something. I sighed and climbed off the bed as another knock sounded through my room, reverberating off the metal walls.

"Who is it?" I asked as I made my way across the room.

I opened the door after not getting any answer but more knocks and found Star standing on the other side.

"Hey sweetie, what's..." she just took my hand and began pulling me along the hall, I barley had the chance to close my door she was in such a hurry. I followed her down the halls, going deeper and deeper into the base. Most of the living quarters were near the surface so there could be quicker evacuations if needed.

She stopped outside the door to the room that I have been avoiding until now. I knew what lay in that room.

Marcus' body was in there. Motionless and without a heart.

The guards on either side nodding once before opening the door for us. I took a slow deep breath to stop myself from succumbing to the tears that were welling up before letting her drag me across the threshold. I was even more confused when I saw that Barns, Kate, Blair and Kyle were all standing over the table Marcus was laying on, the sheet pulled down to his waist. They were all staring at him with wide eyes.

"What is going on in here?" I asked breathlessly, hurrying over to them.

"We aren't really sure." Blair answered as I came up beside her.

"Look..." Kate said, pointing at Marcus' face, looking extremely uneasy.

Looking down at Marcus' body I saw his eyes were open and a red light was visible in his left one, it was flickering steadily as though it couldn't decide if it wanted to turn on or off. There was also a soft light that was shining through the tiny gaps in the stitching on his chest only noticeable because the room we where in was so dimly lit.

"One of the med techs came to get me when he saw the light. We were going to get him ready to be buried." She glanced at me. "I think that he is somehow...rebooting, like when a computer crashes. When we looked you guys over when you first came here we learned that you have one human cortex and one machine cortex. I think that because we removed the...the human cortex, his heart, his machine cortex is trying to take over, making up for his body's lack of a heart. We will need to get one of the techs to look him over to see what is really going on, but until then, all we can do is speculate."

I placed my hand where my own heart was beating rapidly in my chest. Could we really survive without our hearts? If he came back to life, if that was what was really happening, would he be different? Would he still be Marcus? Will he even wake up or was this only a false alarm.

I stroked his cheek, sighing. I was suddenly overcome by an almost overwhelming need to make contact with Marcus. Ignoring everyone else in the room as they talked amongst themselves, I put my hands on the table on either side of his head and leaned down to touched my forehead against his and closed my eyes. I felt the point of contact tingle slightly, almost like static electricity, until I suddenly felt like I was being pulled under water by a strong current.

Everything was dark for a moment before the words 'sync complete' flashed across my vision. When I was able to opened my eyes, everything was different. I was surrounded by an expanse of white nothingness and I wasn't alone.


	21. Chapter 21

Hey everyone! I know it had been a while but life, as usual, has been a little hectic. Work is finally starting to slow down so I will hopefully be writing more! The creative juices have been flowing with the help of my beautiful new, to me at least, Louis XV writing desk!

Anyway! I hope you all like this chapter, I really struggled with getting it to come out the way I envisioned it!

I want to thank the wonderful people who took the time to Review and Add my story! Keep them coming!

Happy reading!

~!DDM!~

* * *

><p>"Des?"<p>

I turned and gasped. There he was! Standing in his Resistance jacket and looking as confused as I felt.

"Marcus, is that really you?" I ran over to him, hugging him tightly and nearly knocking us both over in my enthusiasm.

He felt solid.

"I thought I was dead, didn't I die again?" He looked around the empty white void we were standing in, arms wrapped tightly around me. "Most people only die once you know, this is my what, second, third time giving it a try? Don't people usually say that the third time is the charm?"

"I guess you are just lucky that way." I laughed.

"Where are we?" He looked around at our blank surroundings again.

"I think that we are in your head." I said uncertainly, looking around as well. "It just as empty as I would have expected." he laughed at my attempt to lighten the weight of the anxiety I was feeling.

"Glad to finally know how you really feel about me."

"The others think you are 'rebooting', like a computer that has crashed. Do you feel any different?" I asked hopefully.

"I...I feel like I'm floating. Its kind of like I'm floating on the ocean in a storm and I keep getting tossed around by the waves. It's a weird feeling."

"Do you think you are waking up?" I asked, looking around the empty room for some kind of sign, maybe a big red light that indicated an 'Exit'.

"I don't know if I even want to wake up." he sighed. "I should have been dead a long time ago, you know that. I need to be punished, I deserve it."

I sighed sadly, knowing he really did feel like he didn't deserve the right to live.

"I think that after everything that we have been through since we woke up the first time, you have more than redeemed yourself for any past wrongs. Look at all the good things you have done, the people you have helped. Me, Kyle, Star, John...The Resistance never would have been able to gain the ground it did against Skynet if you hadn't promised to get John in. You can't hide form life just because you don't think you deserve to have one. Don't you think your brother would want you to live? Don't you think he would want you to find happiness?"

He sighed and pulled me closer.

"Why are you so good to me?" he asked softly.

"Because silly, you are family! And I refuse to let you wallow inside this empty place you call a brain!

"Hey!" he said in mock indignation, putting his hand over his heart as if I had wounded him.

"Besides, Blair misses you, I miss you, Kyle and Star miss you and I think even Barns might miss you a little." I laughed. "If you don't come back who is going to help me get through all of, Kyle's teenage mood swings? I think having to deal with them is going to be punishment enough for anything anyone has ever done wrong and I really, really don't want to have to deal with them alone." It was his turn to laugh.

"I don't know how to wake up." he said softly, hugging me close. I sighed and lay my head against him. I wondered how we were going to get out of here, seeing as the 'Exit' sign I had been looking for really didn't see fit to show up. We would get out of here, I refused to leave him now that there was the possibility of getting him back.

That was when I felt it. The odd feeling of the tide letting go of me, allowing me drift to the surface, my determination acting as a buoy.

"Follow me Marcus." I pulled him down to my level and pressed my forehead against his. "Follow me, my hero, my brother." Everything was fading.

I gasped for air, truly feeling as though I had truly been under water and fell backwards, landing sprawled out on my back. I heard several other gasps around me as I tried to pull myself together.

"Marcus!" I heard Blair's voice cry out from somewhere to my left. A bright light was shining in my eyes and I could hear Kate's voice saying my name over and over.

"Can you hear me Odessa?" she asked again.

"Yeah, yeah I can hear you." I mumbled, Barns helped me to my feet and I looked over to see that Marcus was slowly sitting up, looking around with a dazed look on his face. "Third time is a charm." I said to him, smiling, he just laughed.

"I want you both in the infirmary right now." Kate demanded. "I want to do a full physical and tests run, no excuses." she bustled out in all her pregnant glory.

"I'd do what she says if I were you." Barns warned as he helped Marcus up off the metal table he was laid out on. I am very glad they left his pants on when they put him in this room. Blair surprised me by coming over and wrapping an arm around my waist to help support me in case I needed it. She and I still were not all that close but we were making steady progress toward being friends, it will probably evolve more quickly now that neither of us have reason to mourn Marcus. We entered the medical room, one after the other and heard John's exasperated and surprised declaration.

"You have got to be kidding me!" he sounded like he wasn't sure if he wanted to be pissed off or to laugh. I walked over to check on the fluid drips he was still hooked up to but Kate intercepted me before I could reach him. Just because I wasn't exactly happy with him and his earlier scolding doesn't mean I didn't still care about his well being.

"Sit." she demanded, pointing to the cot beside John's. Marcus and I both sat on it and waited patiently for her to gather everything she needed. She was checking my blood pressure when a man I didn't recognize walked in, a laptop under one arm and cables in his other hand. The way he was staring at Marcus and I was really making me uncomfortable. I did my best to ignore him until he made it impossible by setting his laptop down beside me and started to hook his cables up to it, all the while glancing at us. I was officially freaked out when he took the lose end of a cable and reached out toward my head.

"What do you think you are doing?" I asked, scared of what his movements were implying.

"Who the hell are you?" Marcus demanded, grabbing the man's hand and stopping him from touching me.

"This is Chet, he is our resident Terminator program expert." Barns said from across the room. Chet was looking nervous now, glancing between us, Barns, and John.

"Nice to meet you Chet. Now what are you doing with those cables?" I asked, trying to remain polite.

"We, uh, we need to see if you are still transmitting." he mumbled nervously, wrist still gripped in Marcus' partially metal hand, the skin seemed to be slowly growing back and was almost half way down his hand now rather than exposing the metal all the way up to his wrist.

"I'm not." Marcus said instantly. "I ripped that thing off the back of my head when I was in Skynet central."

"I didn't know we could transmit anything anywhere." I said uneasily.

"It will just take a quick, easy test to find out. We would have done it sooner but we were ordered to wait until you were more calm and had settled in." Chet said quickly, glancing tellingly in John's direction. He seemed quite relieved now that Marcus had let go of him.

"Let me just check...uh...Marcus' connection first." he said uneasily. Marcus watched him closely as Chet circled around behind him. I watched as the tech pocked and prodded at the back of my brother's neck. After a few seconds he nodded and deemed Marcus 'untraceable'. Then he picked the cables back up and headed my way.

"Will it hurt?" I asked, eying the cables now in his hands.

"It shouldn't, no, you might feel a minor discomfort but nothing to bad. We have done this to other Terminators we managed to get a hold of without any problems." he was still to nervous to really sound reassuring.

"Is it really necessary?" Marcus asked.

"We need to know if you are a danger to people living here." Barns spoke up.

"What do I need to do?" I asked nervously.

"I need you to lay face down on the cot and move your hair away from the back of your neck." Chet instructed.

Marcus moved out of the way as I did as I was told. I felt better when he took one of my hands in his. I looked to the side and found John's gray-green eyes looking right back at me. He glanced briefly at the hand that was being held by Marcus before looking back at my face. A hand moved the hair away from my neck and I squeezed Marcus' hand, he squeezed back.

Something cool touched my neck and I took a deep breath to calm myself.


	22. Chapter 22

Another chapter! I am excited that this chapter is out much sooner than usual! It's longer too! I have had a few days off so I have been a writing machine!

I want to thank those of you who reviewed and added me to their lists!

I hope you all like this chapter!

~!DDM!~

* * *

><p>I knew the instant the cable was connected to whatever was on my neck because a deep pain took over my entire body. Everything in my mind went blank as the pain took over my entire system. I could hear loud, ear splitting, pain filled screams coming from close by and it took a few seconds to realize that the noise was coming from my own mouth. Images were flashing across my vision to fast for me to do anything but pick up bits and pieces, flashes of colors and faces. All I could focus on was the pain that was traveling through my body.<p>

I felt as if lava were running through my veins, seeping slowly through my body, melting everything in its path on its way down, burrowing into my very bones and reducing them to ash.

I could vaguely hear a furious voice coming from near by but I couldn't make out anything it was saying. This wasn't anything like when I 'synced' to Marcus' mind earlier, this pain strode right past the level of uncomfortable and leaped straight over the line of excruciating. I continued to scream, gripping the edges of the cot so tightly I was denting the metal frame, the pain was never ending. The voice became clearer and I could tell it was coming from Marcus. It was getting louder and louder, the words becoming more distinguishable.

"Stop it, whatever it is you are doing stop it now!" he was yelling.

"I'm almost finished." Chet's voice said back.

"No, you are finished now!"

"No don't touch that!" Chet cried, distressed.

I felt the connection break, my vision was restored but the pain barely diminished.

All I could do was lay there and cry as my entire body ached like nothing I have ever felt before.

Arms encircled me and I was lifted off the table. I did my best to hide in the arms of my rescuer. I looked around fearfully and saw that the dreaded cables were on the ground, severed into several pieces, and Chet was clutching his laptop tightly to his chest a few feet away, obviously protecting it from something. Looking up I realized that he was protecting it form Marcus who was glaring at him furiously from over my head. I buried my face in his chest, more than willing to let him protect me form the man and his cables of doom! "Let me check her out for any damage." Kate's voice came from my left and I felt her hand on my arm.

"NO!" I screamed, shrinking further into Marcus' embrace and trying to hide from any further pain. No more tests, no more computers, no more cables, no more touching, nothing! I was done!

"Odessa, you have to let me take a look at you." Kate said as gently as she was capable.

"No!" I whimpered this time, refusing to look at anyone. I was trying to focus on not screaming anymore as the pain continued to course through my system. I fought with all I had, doing my very best to ward off the panic and hysteria that were attempting to creep into the cracks that the ordeal had created in my now pain addled mind..

"I think you guys have done enough for today." Marcus' voice was more than frosty. "She needs some space to calm down, you can run whatever tests you want on me after I make sure she is okay." He stood up, shifting me so that he had an arm under my knees and around my back. I wrapped my arms around his neck, hiding my face against his shoulder, trying without any success to stop the flow of tears as they made their way down my face, wetting both my skin and his. I refused to look at anyone in the room as my brother carried me from it.

"I'll show you where she has been staying." Blair's voice said, following close behind us.

"What happened?" Kyle's voice called almost as soon as we were through the door.

"Just an accident." Blair said soothingly.

"Is she okay?"

"I think she will be, she just needs to calm down." Marcus said. No one spoke for some time until I heard a heavy door being pushed open. I knew I was back in my quarters but it was more than just the kids and I this time. I finally looked up and found that there were four people in my room beside myself. A little hand took hold of one of mine and tugged gently. Star was looking up at me innocent worry on her face. I slowly uncurled myself from Marcus' arms, now just sitting between his legs and leaning against him. Most of the pain had disappeared by now, though small uncomfortable shocks were still passing through my body, making me flinch.

I was grateful that no one said anything for a while, just letting me relax against Marcus, something I never thought I would ever be able to do again.

The shock was beginning to wear off. It unnerved me slightly that the residual tingling feeling in my limbs was most likely due to every _wire _in my body having been stimulated by the horrible cables. Now that I was calming down slowly I had time to process the images that had so briefly obscured my vision when the whole terrible event had occurred. I closed my eyes and tried to remember some of the flashes I had seen as they were downloaded into the computer.

"Oh god." I groaned. The thick arms around me tightened, reminding me I was still sitting in Marcus' lap.

"What's wrong Des?" he asked softly. "Does it still hurt?"

I shook my head slowly as the feeling of being truly violated washed over me.

"My memories." I whispered.

"What about them?" it was Blair who asked first.

"When that thing was connected to me, all my memories since the moment I had woken up…" I wasn't sure how to explain what I thought had happened. "I saw everything again, like it was a movie in fast forward. I…I think those wires, copied all my memories onto that computer. They are going to sift through them all like some kind of sick movie critics!"

I felt sick to my stomach as I turned and hid my face in Marcus' arms. I just wanted to sink into the floor and never be seen again.

"As soon as they determine you aren't a threat…" I knew Blair was about to attempt to be comforting, in her own way, but Marcus and I were both on edge and she chose the wrong words.

"'As soon as they determine?'" Marcus demanded. "What the hell is that supposed to mean! What is there left to determine? Des isn't a threat to anyone here! She saved your leader for Christ's sake. What is it going to take before you people relax and lay off!?"

From my close proximity I could feel the furious tension that radiated from Marcus and Blair seemed to realize that she was treading into dangerous territory as well. She stood slowly from the seat she had taken on the very edge of the bed.

"I think I will give you guys some time alone." she said a little grudgingly before turning without another word and leaving the room. There was barley a few seconds of silence before Kyle piped up.

"What do you mean by copying your memories?" he asked slowly.

"Just like you would copy a video document from one computer to transfer it to another." Marcus answered for me. "As soon as I can, I'll destroy that stupid laptop."

"You promise?" I asked in a small voice. He nodded, holding me closer.

"I promise."

"It's kind of a good thing too though isn't it?" Kyle asked. The look on Marcus' face must have been nasty because he continued quickly. "No, hear me out. If they have your memories, for however brief a time, they can at least see that everything you have been saying is true right."

He did have a point.

I was glad that I had sat the kids down and spoke to them about what I was and how I came to be what I am now. I always wanted them to speak their minds. There were no secrets and I hoped to keep it that way.

We sat for a while, Kyle and I filling Marcus in on the things he had missed while he was 'dead'. I lost myself in a fit of giggles when Kyle declared that Marcus was officially a zombie.

"Oh come on!" he protested when Marcus threw a pillow at him. "You died and came back to life, that sounds like zombie 101 to me!"

I laughed harder.

"Shut up Doc," Marcus grumbled. "His logic puts you firmly in the zombie category with me, you know."

"I would try to eat your brains," I giggled. "But I have been in in your head, it was pretty empty in there. I don't think it would be much of a meal."

It felt good to laugh. Things have been so scary and serious for so long that I had forgotten how nice it felt to sit with friends, relax, talk and enjoy each others company. I hope we get the opportunity to do this often.

When Star's stomach growled I sent the kids off to see Erma and get some food, reassuring them that I was fine when Kyle protested that they should stay with me. After the door closed behind them, I turned to Marcus, playful mood gone.

"Do you think I could really be a danger to the people here?" I asked in a small voice.

"Absolutely not!" He pulled me back against him. "Don't listen to them. You wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Not intentionally." I sighed. "What if they are right though? About the whole 'transmitting' thing. What if I am like a shinning beacon that gives our location away? What if Skynet can see and hear everything I can? What if they know John is weak and come after him while he is recovering? What if they are monitoring him through me? What if..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down Des! Your head is going to explode if you keep going like that." he rubbed my arms reassuringly. "We will tackle one thing at a time, just breath."

I did as I was told, calming myself with slow, measured breaths. Carefully shuffling and reordering my thoughts into a more organized list. First order of business, how do I stop myself from being a proverbial radio tower of destruction?

"Earlier, you said you knew for a fact that you were not transmitting anything to Skynet. What did you mean?"

Marcus pushed me away enough to turn his head. On the back, just above his neck where the base of his brain stem was located, there was a bald spot about two square inches in area and slightly indented. It looked as though someone took a few layers of his skin. I reached up and brushed my fingers along the square mark. He flinched and turned back to look at me.

"When I was in Skynet, before they fixed me up, I linked with the main computer's system. I was able to see what they did to us, schismatics of our construction, newspaper articles of our deaths, everything. It was the weirdest feeling, I could literally feel the connection in the back of my neck. It felt weirder than when we linked and you showed up in my head. That time it felt very different, almost natural." I nodded in agreement. "According to the data I accessed, you and I were designed with one another in mind. We were made to work as a team."

That made sense to me. If we were made to work in tandem it was only logical that we should be able to transfer information between ourselves.

"Can you do that to me?" I asked after a few beats of silence.


	23. Chapter 24

Hey all! Its been a while but here is the next chapter!

Life is a little hectic lately(whose isn't?) and I have some things to get in order but progress is on the horizon!

Hope you all like this chapter!

Thank you to all those who have stuck with me and added me to your lists!

Lots of love and happy reading!

~!DDM!~

* * *

><p>"Do what?"<p>

"Can you remove whatever the thing is that's on my neck, so I am no longer linked to Skynet?"

"You want me to what?!" he looked alarmed and distressed all at once.

"Marcus, I want to show them I don't want any part of Skynet. I want to prove to them I mean no harm. There are still plenty of people, the majority here, who think I am some kind of elaborate spy! They will never believe anything else unless I do something about it myself!"

"Des, it'll hurt..."

"I can guarantee it won't hurt as bad as when they had me hooked up to that laptop like some kind of freaky science project!"

He looked away from me, reluctant to meet my eyes. I moved so I was kneeling between his legs and touched his cheek, turning him back my direction. He closed his eyes for a moment.

"I don't want to hurt you, Des." he said softly, looking pained. "I am not supposed to be the one to hurt you, I'm supposed to be the one who protects you. I left you alone for so long, I can't hurt you, I just got back."

"You did what you felt was right Marcus, I will never resent you for that. Things haven't been easy, thats for sure, but it hasn't really been that long at all, no more than a couple of weeks."

"Yeah...but...I was gone, that is the point."

"Stop trying to distract me." I knew what he was trying to do and it wasn't going to work. "I need this Marcus. If nothing else than just for my piece of mind. Please Marcus." He took my hands from his face, holding them gently in his much larger ones.

"We will need to go to the infirmary. It will bleed." he said finally. I nodded, choosing not to say anything, not wanting him to change his mind. I slipped off the bed, towing him along behind me out the door.

"I noticed when Chet hooked you up that yours is slightly lower than mine. Its almost directly on the back of your neck rather than up at the base of your skull." he said as we walked quickly through the halls. When we entered the room, Kate and Barns were there at John's bedside. They stopped talking when they saw us. I ignored them for the moment, bustling around the room gathering supplies I though Marcus would need, trying to keep my nerve.

"What are the two of you planning?" Kate asked as I lay out a bowl of water, some clean towels, bandages and a scalpel on a tray table next to the cot closest to John's.

"I don't want to be a threat." I said simply before turning to Marcus. "Are you ready?"

He took a deep breath before nodding, looking a little nervous. I laid face down on the cot, moving my hair out of the way. A shiver of fear slid though me as the position brought back the remembered pain.

"What the hell are you doing?" John's voice demanded from my left.

"Just breath." Marcus told me, ignoring everyone. I wanted to remind him of the same thing but instead hissed softly as the sting of the scalpel slicing through my skin distracting me. I opened my eyes and found myself looking right at Kate's enlarged belly. She and Barns had moved over to see what Marcus was doing, the three of them crowding around me. I felt the scalpel dig further in my skin and a towel dabbing in its wake.

"Deep breath Doc, I have to pry it lose." I did as I was told, whimpering at the strange sensation of something being lifted, tugged and wiggled around on the back of my neck. I knew the moment the device was disconnected from my neck. It was the strangest feeling, as though something was missing but I was still somehow whole. Then, all of a sudden, the world went blank and red words flashed across my vision.

'Connection incomplete.'

Relief nearly overwhelmed me as the world came rushing back.

"Its' done." I whispered.

A wet towel was applied to the abused area and a new set of hands touched my neck. Small and delicate compared to Marcus' large calloused ones.

Kate.

After a large bandage was secured I was allowed to sit up.

"How do you feel?" Marcus asked, peering closely at me face.

"I feel relieved and a little odd, but fine." I said, touching my new bandage. Fingers on my other wrist brought my attention to Kate.

"Your pulse is normal." she said. "What do you mean you feel odd? Has another part of you been affected by the removal?"

"I...I don't think so. I mean, I can tell that something is different, that there is something missing but its not an alarmed kind of feeling. I still feel whole its just..." I struggled to describe what I was feeling. "Its like I felt when I was little and I had really long hair. I got gum stuck in it and had to have it cut short. Something is different but not bad."

Kate nodded in understanding so I knew at least one person got what I was trying to say.

"You said, 'its done'," Barns said from next to his wife. "What did you mean?"

"After that thing was pried off, everything went dark. Then, then I saw words."

"What words?" Kate asked, flashing a light across my eyes.

"It...it said, 'Connection Incomplete'."

"Thats a good sign." Barns nodded.

I sighed in relief, that was what I was hoping.

"Here." I turned back to Marcus and took what was in his outstretched hand.

It was a square piece of metal, about the same size and shape as that mark on the back of his own neck. It looked like a bloody, miniature motherboard for a computer. It turned my stomach to look at it so I let it drop onto the floor. Barns bent to retrieve it but a large boot slammed down on it before he could touch it. I was very thankful, I didn't want them having any more access to my head than they already had. Barns glared up at Marcus who just smirked back at him.

"We might have been able to use that to get information straight from Skynet!" he snapped as he stood. Marcus just shrugged, grinding his heel on the metal device, reducing it to glittery, metal dust.

"I want you to stay here for a few hours." Kate declared, pointing at me. "And you two," she moved to break up the glaring contest between Marcus and Barns. She shoved them apart and physically stood between them. "You are coming with me." she strode purposely across the room.

"Now!" she barked when she saw neither man move. I gave Marcus a little push in the right direction. He did as he was told, casting me a bemused look as he followed Barns and his pregnant wife. I just shook my head, sitting cross legged on my cot.

"Are you alright?" I jumped when John spoke. He had been so quiet after his initial outburst I had forgotten about him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I sighed, touching my neck again. I decided I would forgive him for his earlier scolding, it was just his way of showing he cared.

"Not that, are you okay after the whole, Chet thing. You were in a lot of pain..." he frowned.

"Oh...that, yeah I am okay, I think. Just feeling a little..." I stopped, not wanting to whine.

"Just a little what?" he persisted.

"John, its nothing, really. I understand why it had to be done. They needed to see..."

"I didn't ask you if you understood. I asked you how you felt, Odessa."

I sighed, he really wasn't going to let this go.

"I guess it just left me feeling...a little violated."

"I'm sorry Odessa. I know it was..."

"Do you?" I snapped, without letting him finish. The thought of the pain put me instantly on edge. "Do you really know? Have you ever had to physically feel someone digging around in your head, searching for god knows what! Going through things that are intended, by nature, to be private!"

We just looked at each other in silence for a minute.

"Odessa..."

"I...I'm sorry John. I shouldn't snap, its not your fault. Lets not talk about it, please."

"Did it really hurt as bad as it looked...and sounded?" he asked cautiously. I sighed, at least his persistence is consistent.

"What did it look like?"

"Your whole body ceased up, like you put a penny in a light socket."

I laughed despite myself and he cracked a smile.

"I did that once as a child."

"Did it hurt like that?" he asked quietly.

"Worse. Let's put it this way, if I had a choice, I would rather be shot again than hooked up to that thing." I admitted.

"Wow, I have been shot, multiple times, its never something I would choose."

"I would, every time." I said firmly.

We lapsed into silence again and just when I was about to speak to drive it away, John beat me to it.

"You didn't have to do that you know." he said, gesturing to the bandage I had reached up to touch again. "We didn't know for sure whether or not you were..."

"I know." I interrupted him again. "Being told that there is no 'connection' does make me feel better."

"Just because you were connected, doesn't mean you were transmitting anything."

"I just wanted there to be no room for doubt about my intentions. Even If I was, transmitting, or whatever, and you found a way to deactivate that thing without removal, I didn't want there to be even a slight chance that I could be sharing any information with the enemy. There would have always been one person who would be skeptical enough to make a big deal out of it. Now there is, almost, no way anyone can accuse me of spying." I shrugged.

"Someone called you a spy?" I was surprised by the amount of anger in his voice.

"A man I went to the city with, Marks, said as much before we went to the city." I shrugged. "Besides, people act as though I can't hear them just because they are whispering. Like I don't have ears."

"They shouldn't be whispering at all." he snapped, I laughed.

"It wasn't too long ago that you shared their opinion. You thought Marcus and I were here to kill you all! You thought we had been sent to take you out like some kind of arch enemy in a super hero movie."

He just rolled his eyes.

"Things change." he said simply.


	24. Chapter 25

Hello All!

I know its been months and I don't really have any excuse besides life!

I hope that this chapter doesn't disappoint those of you who are still with me! As my way of saying sorry for the long absence, this chapter is longer than usual!

Lots of love and happy reading!

~!DDM!~

* * *

><p>I was distracted from what I was sure would have been a witty retort when Star poked her head around the door way.<p>

"Hey sweetie." she smiled and came all the way into the room, a tray of food in her little hands. She put the tray down next to me before climbing up to sit on my other side. "You have met John haven't you Star?" I asked when she glanced nervously at the man. She nodded, scooting closer to me before waving shyly at him.

He smiled and waved back. Her eyes were drawn downward to the large bandages covering his chest, the IV in his arms, and the many monitors around his bed. She looked up at me, worry on her face. I wanted to try and alleviate some of that worry for her so I slid off my cot and lifted her up on my hip, carrying her to where John lay. I put her on the end of his bed, careful not to put her on his feet.

"He is okay, Star." I said gently. I picked up one of his charts and showed it to her. "You see how these numbers are going up?" I pointed to one column and she nodded. "As long as they continue to go up like they have been, when they finally level off he will be just fine."

She pointed to another column and I explained that one's purpose to her as well, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. I glanced up at John to see him looking back at me, watching us intently. I smiled at him and went back to explaining each aspect of the chart to Star, pointing out which machine monitored which function and how they corresponded with the charts.

We stayed that way for some time, me explaining, Star soaking everything in and John silent but vigilant. Time seemed immeasurable here, there were no clocks anywhere. I knew I had been talking for quite some time because I found myself clearing my throat quite a bit. I had just finished explaining the purpose of the fluid drips when Kyle decided it was his turn to appear in the doorway. He smiled, glancing around the room before asking Star to come with him and leave John and I to rest. She hopped off the cot and was halfway out the door when she hesitated and turned back, grabbing the forgotten tray of food and putting it beside me again. She gave me a hug, waved at John and ran out the door.

"She seems like a good kid." John said once we were alone. "Kind of quiet though."

"As far as I know, she doesn't talk at all, but she is a good kid." I smiled fondly for a moment, then frowned down at the still untouched tray beside me.

"How did you meet her and Kyle?" He asked.

"Well...Kyle saved us from being shot up by a Terminator." I said as casually as I could.

"Okay, you are going to have to tell that one in story form, no lists." he said with a small laugh, I glared at him but he just smirked back at me.

"Fine, a story then." I crossed my legs and made myself more comfortable on the end of his bed. "Marcus and I had been walking for hours when we came across a partially covered road. He was convinced that roads lead to people and people would lead to answers as to where we were. Eventually we found ourselves at the Holly Wood sign and what was left of LA." I paused, closing my eyes and seeing the ruined city again. "It was horrible. Everything was like an empty, decaying shell of what it used to be. Crumbling buildings, abandoned cars, trash everywhere..."

I shuddered and he just nodded in understanding.

"After not finding any people for a while we had just decided to move on to someplace new when I saw what I thought was another person. I assumed wrong however."

"Terminator." he said quietly. I nodded.

"Kyle called it a T600." I told him, he nodded as if that made sense to him. "It open fired on us. All I could do was stand there like a deer in headlights. I didn't understand how someone could try to shoot another person with no provocation at all. That's when we met Kyle. He literally tackled us, the whelp," John laughed. "But he saved us. He did the whole dramatic, 'come with me or die' thing, and the machine started shooting at us again. Needless to say, we went with him.

"He was pretty clever, he had a whole trap set up and managed to kill the Terminator. He wasn't all that friendly when it was all over. He actually pointed a shotgun at us and had a hissy-fit over the Resistance symbol on out jackets. He went as far as to demand that we take them off! There was no way I was discarding the only real piece of clothing I had covering me!" he laughed again and glanced at my jacket, probably seeing it in a new light. "Marcus disarmed him quickly and we finally got some answers. Not the ones we were really looking for but they were better than nothing."

"Are you going to eat that or just stare at it?" John asked suddenly. I was still just looking at the plate of food.

"I don't know. I'm not really hungry."

"When was the last time you ate something?" I thought about that.

"I had lunch with my friend Grace right before I died, so its been a few years." I decided out loud.

"You haven't eaten anything at all?" he asked, alarmed.

"Kyle offered up two day old coyote but that just sounded gross. Besides, things have been very chaotic, I guess I just forgot. I've been very busy you know, it just never occurred to me that I needed to eat." I picked up a piece of bread, trying to decide whether to eat it or not. "I don't think I need to eat." I put it down thinking of Marcus being able to survive without his heart. Maybe we don't actually need food like we used to.

"You should at least try." he declared.

"If I don't need it to survive I'm not going to waste your supplies! There are plenty of people who obviously need food more than I do." he just rolled his eyes at me. "I won't deprive others of something so important, I just won't do it!"

"Alright, fine." he said after a second. I had a feeling this argument would be picked up another time. "Tell me what happened after Marcus disarmed Kyle."

I thought back to our first meeting again.

"I guess you could say Star just sort of froze, she went totally stiff and Kyle shouted to duck and cover. Some kind of huge flying machine went by, the vibrations it sent out made everything shake like crazy! After proper introduction we followed Kyle and Star back to their 'base'. That was when we first heard your voice over the radio. We all got some sleep and went for a car the next day." I decided to end the story there.

"What happened after that?" he asked. I just shrugged.

"I don't want to talk about that yet." I sighed, he nodded in understanding. "Why is Kyle so important to you?" I asked instead. It was his turn to sigh.

"You would think it was crazy."

"Really? I died and woke up half machine in an apocalyptic future. Try me." I pushed gently. He laughed and shook his head but started talking anyway.

I was riveted right from the start.

It was a fascinating story. Terminators and humans sent from the future to kill his mother before he was born then again to protect and kill him as a child and an adult. Raised by a mother everyone thought was crazy. Being taught to be a leader and a fighter. Love, friendship, loneliness, hardship and loss. When he finally finished all I could do was stare at him in horrified awe. The thought of Kyle being John's father was a lot to process so I put that on the back burner to think about later.

When I came back to myself I stood and moved to the head of the cot where he was propped up, watching me cautiously. I don't know what came over me but I sat down beside him and wrapped my arms around his muscular shoulders, mindful of his bandages. I rested my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes. I was very surprised when one of his arms wrapped around my lower back, the other on my shoulders, hand in my hair. I pulled away slightly after a moment, his arms loosened but didn't release me.

"What was that for?" he asked quietly. I smiled sheepishly.

"With a life story like that, I just thought you might need a hug."

He chuckled and the arm around my lower back slid away until his hand rested on my hip, the one still in my hair tightened slightly, fingers now tangled in the black locks rather than just resting on them, and guided me closer. My mind blanked briefly in confusion but when his lips brushed against mine I was brought instantly back to the present.

The contact was gentle and cautious as though he thought I would break if he used too much pressure, but the hand in my hair was firm and sure, not giving me any room to run away from the contact either. When I didn't instantly try to jerk away he added a little pressure, making the barely there contact a solid but still gentle kiss.

I didn't realize I had closed my eyes until he pulled away and I was left reeling in shock. I had to blink several times before being able to focus on his face, he was smirking slightly. I was still helplessly surprised when he moved in and pressed his lips, with more confidence this time, against mine again. I responded this time, hesitant and maybe just a little bit timid.

Demanding parents in high school and an even more demanding course schedule in college hadn't left much room for boys and dating so I was horribly inexperienced when it came to things like this. I was the first to pull away this time, eyes downcast, feeling suddenly very shy. I finally looked up when a large hand tilted my chin back up. I met his eyes and he smiled gently at me, no smirk to be found this time, but an actual smile. His thumb brushed against my cheek and I relaxed slightly, still feeling a little shy. I knew he could tell that I was feeling unsure and he responded to it in a way that truly stunned me.

He took my face between both hands, leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead, then the tip of my nose, and each cheek. I closed me eyes when he placed a soft kiss over my right eye and then my left. I felt all the tension that had settled in my shoulders slowly leak away, leaving me feeling much more relaxed than I have in quite a while.

He always came across diamond hard and tough as nails, even as wounded as he was and that I was left wondering who taught him how to be so sweet and gentle.

Someone cleared their throat behind me and I had been so calm that I nearly jumped out of my skin, moving away from John as though I had been scorched, my face coloring in embarrassment.

I turned to find Kate standing just inside the door, arms crossed over her belly, face stuck somewhere between a smirk and disapproval. I glanced over and saw John was scowling fiercely at her.

"Kyle said Star was concerned that you weren't eating." she said to me, ignoring John's scowl, and my sigh.

"I haven't eaten because I am not hungry." I said firmly.

"How long has it been since you last ate?" she demanded, in full doctor mode.

"Years." John answered for me. It was my turn to scowl at him, he just smirked back at me.

"WHAT?" she sounded even more alarmed than John had.

"My body hasn't demanded food." I shrugged. "I haven't had hunger pains or fatigue, none of the usual indicators of hunger. I figure I don't need food for my body to function, like Marcus not needing his heart to live."

Kate pursed her lips dubiously. I could tell she needed more convincing to I attacked her more logical, practical side, the side I knew would win out.

"I already told John, I am not comfortable wasting your supplies when there are other people who actually need them! I refuse to take things I don't need from people who could really suffer by going without."

John scoffed but I could see that I had won Kate over.

"Alright." she finally conceded. "If you feel hungry later you better eat something. I won't have you laid up in here taking up space because you decided to starve yourself."

"I promise." I said, happy she was letting the subject go, however the disgruntled noise and look on John's face told me I hadn't heard the last of this from him but I had made my decision and I wasn't going to change my mind. If I didn't need food to sustain me then I wasn't going to use up their resources.

"Sit." Kate ordered, surprising me by gesturing to the end of John's cot instead of the empty one I had sat on earlier. I hesitated, glancing at him and flushing brightly when he winked at me, reminded of what took place between us just moments ago.

"Sit!" she ordered again. I did as I was told and she moved the tray of uneaten food to the empty cot before wheeling over a tray of supplies. I ducked my head as she moved my hair to get a clear look at the back of my neck. She tutted softly and I felt her carefully remove my bandage and put it on the tray table. A quick glance showed me it was saturated with blood.

"Does that hurt?" she asked, gently prodding the area around the wound.

"No."

"No tenderness at all?"

"Nope."

"Well then it obviously looks much worse than it actually is." she said quietly.

"Does it really look that bad?" I dared to ask.

"Well, there is a thin chunk missing from the back of your neck and it looks to have bled pretty heavily at first," I felt something dabbing at the wounded area. "There is some metal exposed but nothing to serious. In fact, the bleeding has almost completely stopped and it even looks as though the skin at the edge of the incisions Marcus made are already starting to heal." she explained while attaching a clean bandage.

"Marcus' is already healed." I told her. "There isn't any mental exposed at all anymore. The skin just grew over the spot so the only thing left of it is a slight indent."

She finished quickly and ordered me to hike up my jacket-dress.

"I beg your pardon?" I asked, astonished she would say something like that. John laughed.

"I want to take a look at your leg wound." she said as though it were obvious, and to her it must be.

"Oh." I said in a small voice. "Okay then."

I pulled the material up to expose the bandaging below. It was spotted with blood but not as much as my neck bandage had been. Charred flesh doesn't bleed as much because it is mostly cauterized. Kate cut the soiled bandage away and exposed the skin. It hadn't bothered me pain wise in quite a while.

"That doesn't look too bad." she said softly, examining the affected area.

"Its a lot better than it was." I told her, doing my own examination. The large portion of the flesh that had been blown away by the mine had started to regenerate. Several inches that had been exposed was now covered my scabbed looking skin.

"I noticed that Marcus' hand reacted similarly. The one that was metal until just above the wrist." She nodded. "The skin seems to have reformed and grown back at a steady rate. I'm pretty sure that his hand will be completely covered in a couple of weeks. My leg will probably take a little longer since its a larger wound but at the same time it is a very different type of wound. So it could really go either way. Only time and patience will tell. Even though I have never..."

"Rambling." John interjected. I stopped and took a deep breath to regather my thoughts.

"I think it would be best if we re-wrapped it and let it heal on its own."

"I agree." Kate said before helping me do just that.

"I want you to stay here for a bit longer, you are comfortable here, no stress, no threats, just to make sure sure there aren't any complications." I saw her exchange a glance with John and his smirk reappeared. I had a feeling she was in on something with him and it made me a little nervous.

"Where is Marcus?" I asked her.

"I left him with Barns and your kids in the garage. Kyle mentioned your guy was a good mechanic. We have a few trucks that need some work and we always need an extra set of capable hands so I volunteered him. Its a good way for him to get integrated and into the swing of things around here."

I laughed at the thought of Marcus tinkering with an engine while Barns breathed down his neck, Kyle chattering away in his ear, and Star staring at him from wherever she was perched. Kate seemed to share my vision since a tiny smile flickered briefly across her pretty face.

"I will go check on them." She said almost to herself, probably worrying about what kind of trouble that group could get into when left to their own devices.

"If you aren't going to eat that," she gestured to the still untouched food. "Put it to some use and make sure he eats it."

She waddled away, taking her knowing smile with her. I sighed but did as I was told. I snatched the tray from the other bed and brought it over to John, putting it on a tray stand and positioned it what I thought was within his reach.

When he tried to reach for the spoon, the grimace of pain on his face had me gently pushing his hand down.

"You can't even...Have they been letting you feed yourself?!" I demanded.

"I can feed myself just fine." he protested, trying once again to reach for the tray but the strain that showed had me batting his efforts away again.

"You aren't ready to fully extend your arms yet! You can partially extend upward but not outward. It puts a lot of strain on your pectoral muscles and they are still healing. If you try and overextend yourself you will be stuck in this bed for even longer than we originally estimated!" He swallowed further protests at that daunting thought. "I can't believe they have been letting you do this to yourself!"

"We don't have enough people to spare one to be my nurse maid!" he snapped. "Besides, my primary doctor has been very busy. She has been saving lives, breaking noses, running around cities full of terminators, looting bookstores and driving getaway cars."

I hesitated. That was all true...

"I'm sorry." I whispered. "I should have been more attentive. Life has been very, very hectic but I shouldn't have neglected to see to things like that. It honestly never crossed my mind and I am very sorry."

He sighed and shook his head.

"I get it." he said finally. "You are dealing with a lot. Its hard enough being a medic here, let alone one with your advanced skills. Add the mostly hostile environment you have had to live in. Its a lot to deal with. I know having someone who was going through the same thing was essential to your state of mind. When Marcus 'died' suddenly you were dealing with it all by yourself."

"I just felt really alone." I said softly, bring my knees up, crossing my legs on the bed and staring down at my hands folded in my lap. A much larger, calloused hand settled over mine.

"He isn't the only one who cares about you. You aren't alone."

Tears welled up in my eyes.

"You've changed your tune pretty drastically." I said, managing to keep the tears from falling.

"Things change."

"I just don't understand what changed."

I looked up to meet his eyes, the green-gray color was very different from my own clear jade. He took a deep breath and I could almost see him marshaling his thoughts into order.

"I think it started after talking to Marcus the first time. Even chained and suspended in the air, he was aggressive and hostile, everything I would expect a Terminator to be. You on the other hand were completely contrary to everything I thought you to be when we saw your leg. You actually shied away from me when I first approached you. Like I was the dangerous thing in the room, not you. When I told you Blair helped Marcus escape, you asked if she was okay. You weren't even pissed that she left you behind, you didn't display even a tiny hint of aggression. You were just so human, nothing like any of the machines I've ever encountered, even as a child.

"I have heard about you lashing out at people but only when you were protecting others. You challenged everything I have ever thought or believed about machines. You are sweet and gentle, kind and caring, everything a woman should be and everything so rarely found in a world like ours." His thumb gently rubbed the back of my hand. "If I have learned anything in my life, its that you have to go after the things you want, regardless of what other people may think. In dangerous times like this, you never know what will happen next so you should live without regrets. I refuse to be one of those people who lives life wondering what could have been just because I was worried about what other people thought about the fact that some of your parts are metal."

I sniffled, extremely touched by his speech. He isn't a person I would have pegged for heartfelt confessions. I didn't even know how to respond to anything he was telling me. Intimacy just wasn't my strong suit, I had such little experience with it.

He really let me know what he was thinking so I decided it was only fair that I did the same thing.

"I...I don't know what to say." I admitted. "I've never really had the opportunity to be...close to anyone before."


End file.
